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Sibling loss occurs in 5% to 10% of families, but few studies have examined learning and emotional effects on surviving siblings. To learn more, researchers examined data on 2418 mothers and their 6558 offspring who were enrolled in a national survey in 1979 and followed biannually since 1986. During that time, 121 children died, leaving 331 surviving siblings.
Children were 51% male, whether families had or had not suffered child death. Mothers with a deceased child scored lower on a proxy measure of IQ than those without deceased children. Immediately after the loss, surviving siblings showed decreased reading, reading comprehension, math, and vocabulary skills compared to preloss and had diminished family emotional and cognitive support (…