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Author: Vanwey, Leah K.
Resulting in 2 citations.
1. Guo, Guang
Vanwey, Leah K.
Sibship Size and Intellectual Development: Is the Relationship Causal?
American Sociological Review 64,2 (April 1999): 169-187.
Also: http://www.jstor.org/stable/2657524
Cohort(s): Children of the NLSY79, NLSY79
Publisher: American Sociological Association
Keyword(s): Children, Academic Development; Family Characteristics; Family Environment; Family Size; Genetics; Intelligence; Siblings

Permission to reprint the abstract has not been received from the publisher.

Originally Presented: Chicago, IL, Population Association of America Meetings, April 2-4, 1998

Previous research has consistently found a negative statistical relationship between sibship size and children's intellectual development. Two explanations have been offered for this finding. The prevailing explanation is that the relationship is causal, suggesting that limiting family size would lead to more intelligent children. A second explanation maintains that the relationship is spurious--that one or more undetermined factors correlated with family size are causally related to intellectual development. Using data on children from the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth, we reexamine the issue using change models. These change models allow us to control for such unmeasured effects as family intellectual climate, family value system, and family genetic heritage. We begin by replicating in these data the negative statistical relationship between three cognitive measures and sibship size. We then apply the change models to siblings measured at two points in time and to repeated measures of the same individuals. By considering sibship size as an individual trait that changes over time, we control for effects that are shared across siblings and over time. When these shared effects are controlled, the negative relationship between sibship size and intellectual development disappears, casting doubt on the causal interpretation of the negative relationship conventionally found.

Bibliography Citation
Guo, Guang and Leah K. Vanwey. "Sibship Size and Intellectual Development: Is the Relationship Causal?" American Sociological Review 64,2 (April 1999): 169-187.
2. Guo, Guang
Vanwey, Leah K.
The Effects of Closely Spaced and Widely Spaced Sibship Size on Intellectual Development: Reply to Phillips and Downey et al.
American Sociological Review 64,2 (April 1999): 199-206.
Also: http://www.jstor.org/stable/2657527
Cohort(s): Children of the NLSY79, NLSY79
Publisher: American Sociological Association
Keyword(s): Peabody Individual Achievement Test (PIAT- Reading); Siblings

Permission to reprint the abstract has not been received from the publisher.

A response to Meredith Phillips's & Douglas B. Downey et al's (both 1999) analyses of the authors' contention that sibship size has little influence on children's intellectual development. Whereas Phillips' commentary is welcomed, it is asserted that Downey et al have failed to invalidate the authors' contention. Contrary to the latter's assertion, it is suggested that cross-sectional model analyses of both closely & widely spaced sibship size are potentially misleading. It is contended that the change model effectively controlled "unobserved permanent family characteristics." Downey et al's assertion that change & cross-sectional models are comparable is rejected because both models analyze different measures of sibship size & children's intellectual growth. Moreover, their contention that the authors presented a static representation of the family is repudiated.
Bibliography Citation
Guo, Guang and Leah K. Vanwey. "The Effects of Closely Spaced and Widely Spaced Sibship Size on Intellectual Development: Reply to Phillips and Downey et al." American Sociological Review 64,2 (April 1999): 199-206.