Date of Award

5-2026

Document Type

Thesis

Degree Name

Bachelor of Arts (BA)

Department

Social Sciences

First Advisor

Barton, Michelle

Area of Concentration

Psychology

Abstract

This study examined the association between birth order and coping strategies in children, with a particular focus on primary and secondary control coping during family stress. Drawing on theoretical models of coping that distinguish between efforts to change external stressors (primary control) and efforts to adapt internal responses (secondary control), the study explored whether children’s roles within the family may help predict their preferred coping mechanisms. Prior research suggests that personality traits, sibling dynamics, and family structure influence both emotional development and coping processes, indicating that birth order may be a meaningful factor in how children respond to stress. Participants were recruited through online platforms and community outreach, targeting parents of children aged 8–12 years. The Response to Stress Questionnaire–Parent Report (RSQ) was used to assess five domains of coping: primary control, secondary control, disengagement coping, involuntary engagement, and involuntary disengagement. Due to strict inclusion criteria and limited participation, the final sample consisted of one parent reporting on a 9-year-old second-born child, resulting in a case study design. Findings indicated that the child demonstrated slightly greater use of secondary control coping (24%) than primary control coping (23%), with an overall tendency toward engagement coping strategies (approximately 70%). Disengagement strategies were used less frequently. These results suggest a pattern of actively engaging with stressors, consistent with adaptive coping processes, although conclusions are limited by the single-participant sample. The study highlights the potential role of birth order and family dynamics in shaping children’s coping strategies while underscoring the need for further research with larger, more diverse samples. Future studies should incorporate multiple participants across birth order positions and utilize both parent- and child-report measures to better understand how coping develops in relation to family structure.

Rights

The author has granted New College of Florida the nonexclusive right to archive, make accessible, and distribute for educational purposes this work in whole or in part in all forms of media, now or hereafter known. The copyright of this work remains with the author.

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