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In autism, the social benefits of being a girl

A Yale University study found that infant girls at risk for autism exhibit better social attention and observational skills than boys, which may help prevent or mitigate the severity of autism symptoms in high-risk females.

SourceYale University·JournalJournal of the American Academy of Child & Adolescent Psychiatry·DateFeb 9, 2016

Firstborn, middle child, last-born: Birth order has only very small effects on personality

A study of over 20,000 grown-ups found no substantial effects of birth order on central personality traits, including extraversion, emotional stability, and conscientiousness. Self-reported intellect showed a small effect, with firstborns reporting better vocabulary and less difficulty understanding abstract ideas.

SourceJohannes Gutenberg Universitaet Mainz·JournalProceedings of the National Academy of Sciences·DateOct 19, 2015

Massive study: Birth order has no meaningful effect on personality or IQ

A massive study of 377,000 high school students found that first-borns have a one-IQ-point advantage over later-borns but the differences are statistically insignificant. First-borns tend to be more extroverted and conscientious, while later-borns have less anxiety, but these effects are infinitesimally small.

SourceUniversity of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, News Bureau·JournalJournal of Research in Personality·DateJul 16, 2015

A beggars banquet -- life in a shared nest

Researchers found that crow chicks raised alongside a cuckoo chick begged less intensely than those in nests without any unrelated broods present. Despite this, the young crows ultimately grew bigger than the cuckoos. The study suggests that sharing the nest with a cuckoo may be advantageous for crow chicks.

SourceSpringer·JournalBehavioral Ecology and Sociobiology·DateApr 15, 2015

Siblings of children with autism can show signs at 18 months

A new study by Yale School of Medicine researchers has found that about 20% of younger siblings of children with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) will develop the condition by age 3. The study identified specific social-communicative behaviors at 18 months that distinguish infants with ASD from their peers.

SourceYale University·JournalJournal of the American Academy of Child & Adolescent Psychiatry·DateOct 20, 2014

Atypical development in the siblings of children with autism is detectable at 12 months

Researchers detected atypical development in nearly half of the younger siblings of children with autism by 12 months. The study found that many of these children showed delays in social, communication, cognitive, or motor development, particularly in social-communication domains.

SourceUniversity of California - Davis Health·JournalJournal of the American Academy of Child & Adolescent Psychiatry·DateMar 5, 2014

High fizzy soft drink consumption linked to violence among teens

Research published in Injury Prevention found that teens who consume high amounts of carbonated non-diet soft drinks are more likely to exhibit aggressive behavior. The study, which analyzed data from over 1,800 Boston teenagers, discovered a significant association between heavy soft drink consumption and violence perpetration.

SourceBMJ Group·JournalInjury Prevention·DateOct 24, 2011