Only Child=Social anxiety/More Siblings=More outgoing?

[sevenroses]

I was just wondering, would being an only child make you more prone to develop social anxiety? I am an only child and I always wondered whether my anxiety would be as bad if I had another sibling. I know being an only child definitely helped made me develop into a very introvert individual. I also wonder whether the more siblings a person has, the more outgoing that person will be. What do you guys think?

 

[EscapeArtist]

Hmm i'm not sure. I'd say it depends largely upon how well you get along with the sibling. I also think that having more siblings makes you prone to be neglected by your parents, as I was. Parents called me "The Forgotten Child" because I was overshadowed by my 2 sisters. Often distracted the parents from me. You have to be made to feel safe in social situations as a child and teen. If you had nurturing parents as an only child, I would think that would be the most beneficial situation.

 

[Falkor]

I may not be an only child, but i do have a brother who is 7 years younger than me. So we can't do all the things together, and I don't have somebody around me from the same age. I think that matters too. But not sure.
But I think it's all because of experiences you have developed in your life, and also i think it's a matter of how sensetive you are for social anxiety, to get it.
I mean, that you can panic very fast or have deep emotions like fear.
It just depends on the person, your own development.

I always been a shy girl, I panic fast in the past also and since i got bullied and experienced trauma, I struggle with SA.

 

[Acegame]

I dont think this is necessarily true. My dad has 4 brothers and the youngest had SA too. And i have a sister who is 8 years younger.

 

[Mokkat]

Ive always gotten along with my sister reasonably well, and I dont think my SA/AVPD would have been any better or worse as an only child.
It is a bad situation when the younger sibling gets more attention as a child and become more successful socially/school-wise - my older cousin was way overshined by her younger brother, and it has been a straining family life for her.

 

[quietkiwi]

Hard to say what difference. I'm the youngest of four children, I have SA and my siblings are all very or fairly social. I think it depends on how your parents and siblings relate to you to a degree as to how much influence it has on SA, and a lot seems to be dependent on what type of person you happen to be. Younger I was just shy and wouldn't have said I had SA as such, mainly because I didn't avoid social situations. I've meet a few only children that are very socialy outgoing.

 

[Forgotten-Children]

I really don't think that having more siblings makes you more social because I have two younger siblings and I can barely talk to anyone. :/

 

[Emma03]

I was just wondering, would being an only child make you more prone to develop social anxiety? I am an only child and I always wondered whether my anxiety would be as bad if I had another sibling. I know being an only child definitely helped made me develop into a very introvert individual. I also wonder whether the more siblings a person has, the more outgoing that person will be. What do you guys think?

I am an only child too and I think it was a factor in how my personality developed. My parents are also both fairly introverted, so I think that I "learned" it from them as well.

 

[Heekaru]

I have a twin, so I dont think thats the case.. I always been more shy and introverted than him though, so he usually got all the attention in my childhood..

 

[The Chief]

I would say being an only child deinately contributes to social anxiety. I am an only child, and often wonder if I would have had more confidence if I had brothers and/or sisters. Childhood can be lonely as an only child, and I think being able to talk to a sibling would have helped. My parents also divorced when I was 11, and that made me feel more alone and withdrawn.

Im not saying there are no sufferers of social anxiety who come from large families, of course there are, and some have posted above. However, for what its worth, I think it had a bearing on me, and is a reason I am so shy now. None of my other friends were only children, and they all appear more confident and extrovert than I do.

 

[Luke1993]

Well I have 3 siblings, they are very outgoing but I'm not at all.. I don't get on with them very well either because we differ on a lot of things. I actually think I'd have done better as a only child. I do have a different father to them though if that makes any difference lol

 

[Ignace]

I had a stepbrother from the age of 6 to 13. I remember being lonely etc before 6, but it got worse after my mother and her friend seperated. I lost contact with my stepbrother cause of that. Since then I'm isolated. When I lived there with him I was more outside then inside. Being an only child suckx ..

 

[lurknomore]

I have 6 siblings, and have always been surrounded by them and numerous other family members- aunts, uncles, cousins, nieces, nephews, etc- and I have no clue how to be social. It seems to come naturally to most everyone else in my family, though. A lot of my siblings were shy when they were younger (some painfully so), but I'm the only one who seems to not have been able to grow out of it or overcome it.

 

[LazyHermitCrab]

I don't like being asked if I have a sibling because it's just another thing i'm lacking :Z cousin is one too, and really outgoing, but his parents forced him to join clubs and go to church ect. I did gymnastics as a kid, but hated it. I watched a lot of tv in my free time and as a kid there was a lot of free time. So not so much being an only child, but not figuring out my interests and going out more. Back then there was no computer so basically just played with toys by myself >.< hmm don't believe that's good mentally..

 

[Sial Axetder]

More outgoing? Depends. Can't really know for sure.

 

[Blaze]

Eh, I am not entirely sure about this debate. I have seen examples leaning on both sides of the fence and I'm not entirely sure it makes one bit of difference either way.

I have a younger sister, she's 13 I am 20. The age gap prevents us from being closer and it doesn't help that she cannot fathom S.A.D. Kinda sad when your younger sibling is ripping on you for doing nothing with your life.

 

[MaliceInWickedland]

Most people I know have siblings and they seem to be very sociable, compared to me at least. I rarely ever meet anyone who's an only child like I am so I don't exactly know the statistics on their social standing, but from my personal experience I think being an only child might have some sort of effect on my social anxiety. Although, there are a lot of other things that contributed to my SA like my father passing away when I was 7, people excessively bullying me both physically and emotionally, and me being home alone most of the time with no one to talk to. Being home alone and having no siblings to talk to deprive me of communication and through that deprivation I don't get enough experience in communication and that projects my antisocial personality. Not entirely sure though, that's just the way I see it.

 

[Emma03]

This post also made me think of how a lot of people think being an only child means that you are spoiled and selfish. It's just not true.

 

[Tiercel]

I'm the first of three children and I've always been shy and quiet. My family has always been friendly, supportive, and close, and there is really no reason why I "should have" developed SA.

I'm not sure how different I would have turned out had I been an only child.