New research shows a correlation between the early maturation of first-born daughters and maternal stress during pregnancy, making “first-daughter syndrome” an officially proven scientific phenomenon.
Yael Wolf, the oldest sibling and author of the book Paris, My Love, often felt the lines between her role and that of her mother were blurred.
- New research has linked ‘first daughter syndrome’ to mothers’ prenatal stress.
- The eldest daughter has been shown to mature early and be helpful in caring for her siblings.
- This study did not find a similar acceleration in maturation in first-born or non-first-born children.
she said HuffPost: “By the time my youngest brother was born, when I was almost 11 years old, I became filled with a sense of responsibility for his welfare.
“I sat by his crib and watched him sleep to make sure he was safe.”
‘First daughter syndrome’ confirmed by new study linking early maturation of first daughters to maternal stress
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“It wasn’t that I thought my mother was incompetent, but that at that point in our lives we both felt responsible for our families.
“As if I were literally [the] More than an older sister, she’s my other mother. ”
“First Daughter Syndrome” has become something of a pop psychology term, often discussed on social media, even though it is not listed as an official diagnosis in the DSM-V.
“If you’re the eldest sibling and you’re a girl, you might be entitled to financial compensation,” one woman joked on X (formerly Twitter).
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Nevertheless, University of California, A Los Angeles-led research team has found that in some cases, eldest daughters tend to mature earlier and are able to help mothers raise younger siblings.
Additionally, researchers found a correlation between early signs of adrenal puberty in first-born daughters and mothers who experienced high levels of stress before birth.
Adrenal puberty refers to a developmental stage in which hormonal changes primarily related to the adrenal glands occur. The age at which this stage occurs is important because it is during this stage that the skin, body hair, and brain develop.
Furthermore, it has been reported that the adrenal puberty process is thought to promote social and cognitive changes. As a result, this study showed that superficial physical changes are correlated with emotional maturity.
This study revealed that eldest daughters often mature early and have early signs of adrenal puberty.
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Jennifer Hahn-Holbrook, one of the study’s co-authors and an assistant professor of psychology at the University of California, Merced, said that when a mother is experiencing stress during a difficult time during pregnancy, she It is said to be in the best interest of the Because they mature socially at a faster pace.
A psychology expert said: “It allows the mother to ‘help the nest’ sooner, helping the females keep later offspring alive in a difficult environment.”
The study assumes that although the girls are physically incapable of bearing children of their own, they are mentally mature enough to care for their younger siblings.
Older children, on the other hand, appear to have been left out of the picture when it comes to this type of parenting, as researchers were unable to find similar results for boys and girls who were not firstborns.
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Jennifer says, “One reason why this effect was not observed for eldest sons is that boys are less likely to help directly with childcare than girls, so mothers have fewer adaptive incentives to increase their social skills.” That may be the case.” Adolescent development. ”
The results of this study were published in the February issue. psychoneuroendocrinologyA 15-year study was conducted on a variety of families from pregnancy to the baby’s teenage years.
The women selected for the study were, on average, 30 years old and pregnant with one child rather than twins. Approximately half of the women were experiencing their first pregnancy.
According to Huffpuff, women’s stress, depression and anxiety levels were measured at five different stages of pregnancy and then cumulatively.
During difficult times, maternal stress during pregnancy accelerates daughter growth and acts as an early ‘nest helper’
@katimorton 8 signs you have first daughter syndrome… #eldest daughter #Brother #sibling check ♬ Original song – Kati Morton, LMFT
According to the report, the depression assessment asked the women to rate the truthfulness of statements such as “I felt lonely,” while the anxiety questions asked them how often they felt certain symptoms, such as irritability. He asked.
Of the children born to these mothers, 48% were female and 52% were male. They found that first-born daughters grew fastest when mothers experienced high levels of stress before giving birth.
Author Yael also commented on the results of this study:
“My story is a little different. I went through true adolescence, not just adrenal puberty, at age 12, but I think I went through early cognitive maturation.”
“When you are raised by your parents as a child, you lose your own childhood,” a reader commented.
