ABSTRACT

T. Falbo states that the psychologist, Brill, warned of a predisposition to neuroticism in only children, and, going further, said, “It would be best for the individual and the race that there were no only-children”. Falbo has been prominent in seeking to counter some of the negative publicity for only children with her own quantitative research. A. Mancillas identifies the need to challenge old beliefs and labels—that the only child is “lonely, spoiled and maladjusted”—and urges mental health professionals, teachers, and parents to make “unbiased” decisions about only children. The author decides to interview participants who had reached at least mid-life, who had lived long enough to have experienced being an only child at different stages of their lives and, particularly, a fairly long period of being an “only child” as an adult. The idea of an only child growing up too soon and becoming a kind of honorary adult is quite prominent in the literature.