Depression, Anxiety, and Stress in Siblings Belonging to Two-child Families

Page: 44-47

Krutika Wagh and Arvind Kakulte (Department of Psychology, Sir Parshurambhau College, Pune, Maharashtra)

The following study was conducted to assess the difference between the levels of stress, anxiety and depression in siblings coming from a two-child family. The sample consisted of 100 first-born and 100 second-born young adults whose age ranged from 18 to 30 years. The short form of Depression Anxiety Stress Scale (DASS-21) was used to collect the data. It was hypothesized that first-borns would score higher on the three dimensions as compared to the second-born individuals. The results did not support the hypotheses. The mean score of stress was found to be 16.98 for first-borns and 16.14 for second-borns. The mean score for depression was 12.70 in first-borns and 14.92 in second-borns. Lastly, the mean score for anxiety was found to be 13.54 in first-borns and 14.52 in second-borns. Hence, anxiety and depression were greater in second-borns than first-borns while stress was close to equal, leaning slightly more towards the first-borns. None of the differences were found to be significant.