Human Growth and Development Across the Lifespan

Running head: HUMAN DEVELOPMENT ACROSS LIFESPAN
HUMAN DEVELOPMENT ACROSS LIFESPAN
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1HUMAN DEVELOPMENT ACROSS LIFESPAN
For a family, arrival of a baby as a new member is in fact an exciting thing but also this
exciting thing with it huge changes in the family, that all the members have to adjust to. The
change is of more challenge when there is an older sibling at the home; welcoming the new child
would mean that the older sibling would also have to have some significant adjustments and so
do the parents (Coles, 2018). This might prove to be one of the biggest gifts that parents can give
to their older sibling only if the sibling is guided by the changes properly. Most importantly, it
must be mentioned that, there have been ample research on the impact that is imposed on the
older sibling at the arrival of a new baby, and almost all the outcomes have clearly indicated that
there is always an evident impact on the personality development of the older sibling due to this
change (Lamb, 2014). The personality of the older sibling will be mostly affected on the way
he/she is seen to react around the new baby. The developmental stage of the older sibling is also
hugely affected on the analysis of the way they take the notion that they have to share the
attention that they used to get from their parents with this new baby.
In accordance to the Ecological Systems Theory formulated by an American
psychologist, Urie Bronfenbrenner (1992), all the children’s inherent qualities interact with the
kind of environment they reside in, and this interaction leads to influence the growth and
development of the children. As a matter of fact, the theory of Bronfenbrenner gives focus on the
studying of children within multiple environments that are known as the ecological systems so
that they can have a clear idea of their development. The theory also states that the ecological
system of home is the most intimate ecological system where the development and growth of a
child mostly takes place (Volling et al., 2014). If the theory of ecological system is implemented
on finding the impact that the arrival of a new baby does on the older sibling, it would show how
the macrosystem forces like values of culture would play the significant role in forming future

2HUMAN DEVELOPMENT ACROSS LIFESPAN
relationship between the siblings and the growth of the older sibling as a result of that
relationship (Riggio, 2000). In his context, it must be mentioned that the theory of Ecological
system is based on a model that is divided into five types of ecosystems, namely, Chronosystem,
Macrosystem, Exosystem, Mesosystem and Microsystem. The Microsystem is the part of the
theory that refers to everyday life’s immediate contexts like neighborhoods and family (Dunn,
2017). The forces that tend to work at this level helps in supporting involved and close
relationships between siblings. In addition to this, the Exosystem is also an important factor since
it indicates the impact that is shown on their personality through the effects of the Microsystem;
for instance, if parents have long working hours in their workplace, it imposes a huge impact on
the care -giving responsibility of the older sibling for the new baby and hence the relationship
that is formed between these two siblings tend to be more complementary rather than
egalitarianism (Hindle & Sherwin-White, 2014). As a matter of fact, all the levels of the theory
bring contextual influence on the individual development of the older siblings and are hugely
connected with sibling relationships.
There are sibling preparation classes that help the parents to prepare their older child to
welcome the new baby in their life and especially in the life of the older siblings, since they are
the one who have to adjust with the whole new idea of a new member of a family which takes
most of their parents’ attention to themselves (Tibbetts & Scharfe, 2015). Therefore, if the
Microsystem consists of a caring family that has prepared their elder child for the arrival of the
new baby in the house and showed them how dependent the new sibling is on each and all of the
family members including the older sibling, it is highly relevant that the older sibling will
develop a personality of an older sibling with love and care for the baby and there will be less
chances of a sense of sibling rivalry within the older sibling. On the other hand, when the