many parents fear that having only one child causes him or her to miss out on peer interaction and placing him at social disadvantage later in life. however, researchers at ohio state university have found that children without siblings overcome any social deficits they have by the time they are teens and have just as many friends as their peers.

　　the researchers, led by donna bobbit-zeher and douglas downey, studied more than 13,000 teenagers aged between 12 and 18 (grades seven through 12). the adolescents were asked to name five male friends and five female friends. the average teen was named five times and only children were named as often as those with siblings.

　　the research also showed that parental age, race, and socio-economic status appeared to have no impact.

　　a previous study conducted by downey in 2004 showed that children without brothers and sisters showed poorer social skills in kindergarten, including self-control and interpersonal skills, but this newer study indicates that the correlation diminishes over time.

　　“anyone who didn't have that peer interaction at home with siblings gets a lot of opportunities to develop social skills as they go through school,” said bobbit-zeher.

　　许多父母担心独生子女缺少和同龄人的交流，可能会损害他们以后的生活的社交能力。然而，俄亥俄州立大学的研究者们最新发现，没有兄弟姐妹的青少年也能克服任何社会交际困难，他们也和同龄人一样有很多朋友。

　　调查由研究人员唐纳•博比特•热海尔和道格拉斯？唐尼发起，他们对超过1.3万名7至12年级的中学生进行调查。调查要求学生各列出5名男性朋友和5名女性朋友，结果显示受访学生平均被5名其他同学称为朋友的几率在有兄弟姐妹和没有兄弟姐妹的学生中是没有区别的。

　　研究还显示这一结果不受父母年龄、种族和社会经济地位的影响。

　　唐尼在2004年也做过此项研究，研究表明幼儿园里的没有兄弟姐妹的孩子在社交领域里表现很差，包括自我控制能力和人际沟通技巧等方面。然而最新研究显示，这种社交能力差的现象会随着孩子年龄增长逐渐消失。

　　博比特•热海尔说，“在家里没有兄弟姐妹进行沟通的孩子们可以通过学校获得大量机会发展社交能力。”