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Introduction

"I believe that my words had no value."(Vivian Wang, 2022). This just

explained how middle child feels, a proof that a middle child syndrome is not just

a theory, it is evidently happening in our society.

Based on statistics, 70% of children below eighteen years old (18y/o) have

a problem with their parents, some bad relationships between parents and their

children is sometimes caused by lack of guidance, support, and attention. Lack of

parental guidance or parental support is connected with increasing levels of

depressive symptoms (American Psychological Association, 2004).

Alfred adler looked at the order of the child's arrival in a family in an

attempt to fully understand how family relationships affect the lives of middle

children. For instance, a first born baby will have the most attention, the middle

born child will not be very or so special anymore, because as stated earlier the

first born baby will have and get all the attention, so the middle child will only get

some attention of their parents. Infants whose emotional needs are not met during

their early days exhibit more attention seeking behavior and cry more as they

grow. They tend to have a little confidence and be reliant on others' approval and

emotional support (Li,2023)

Statement of the Problem

According to Werner (n.d.), Middle child syndrome is a condition that

middle children are excluded, ignored, or even outright neglected because of their

birth order. According to the lore, some children may have certain personality and

relationship characteristics as a result of being the middle child. The purpose of

this study is to explore how teens think when they receive treatment unfairly by

their parents or other family members.

The study is seeking answers to the following queries:

1. What does fairness mean to them?

0. How do they feel when they are given unfair treatment

1. How do they cope up with the treatments their parents are giving them?

2. How did they parents’ unequal treatment of them affect their:

4.1 Mental

4.2 Physical

4.3 Emotional being

Significance of the Study

The objective of this study is to understand whether middle children in a

family have the feeling that their position is less important than any other

position. The significance of this research is based on its ability to provide

clarification regarding the unique characteristics of Middle Child Syndrome. This

study will be very beneficial to:

To Parents - This study is helpful for parents since it can help them decide how

to provide each of their kids an adequate amount of time and attention.

To Future Parents - This is important for future parents because they will have

an idea of how to properly give enough attention to their children. It is also

possible for them to immediately understand their children when it shows

symptoms of the said issue, and when they understand it, they can immediately

make a way to fill their children with enough attention and love.

To Relatives- This will help the relatives so that they could have an idea of how

to approach the middle children who are experiencing middle child syndrome.

This study will be useful to family members who are approached by middle

children who are seeking attention that they are not getting from their parents. For

an instance, middle children who approach their aunts, uncles, or grandparents

instead of talking to their parents to get attention.

To Future Researchers - This research is important for future researchers to

better appreciate things or issues that are not given enough attention, such as the

said issue about middle children who experience middle child syndrome.

This study explores the memories of the chosen middle-born adolescents who had

to deal with their guardians treating them unfairly as their own kid. It also covers

the mannerisms that teenagers may pick up from the way that adults around them,

especially their parents, handle them.

Scope and Delimitations 

The research being conducted has a method known as phenomenology and

is qualitative in character. The purpose of this study is to thoroughly determine

the experiences of in-born middle children who are living in Tarlac City. The

thoughts of Tarlac’s in-born middle children are taken into consideration in the

present investigation. Each middle child's unique identity is highlighted, as well

as what they experience on every day. The Middle Child Syndrome in Teenagers

will be the main topic of the present research. The research additionally

concentrates on how participants handle the treatment they receive from their

parents and other family members, as well as how they handled the most difficult

issue they encountered in their lives. Since this study uses a phenomenological

design, the minimum number of participants that can be recruited is 6 teenagers

and the maximum is 12 teenagers, the researchers recruited 6 respondents to

conduct the study. To carry out this research, A Face-to-Face interview is

utilized to obtain evidence or information from those who participated. In a Face-

to-Face interview, the researcher speaks with the participant face-to-face while

using the questionnaire that was created as a guide. This kind of interview gives

the researcher the opportunity to have interviewees compile thorough data

regarding their feelings and actions regarding a specific issue.

Definition of Terms

The following definitions of each terminologies are provided. 

According - Commonly utilize according to in formal situations to refer to

official evidence such as statistics or reports. According to it means an opinion

that is not the speaker's viewpoint it represents "as observed by" or "as stated by."

Attention Seeking- attention-seeking behavior is a conscious or unconscious

attempt to become the center of attention, sometimes to gain validation or

admiration (Frothingham, 2020).

Depressive Symptoms- It involves a depressed mood or loss of pleasure or

interest in activities for long periods of time (World Health Organization: WHO

& World Health Organization: WHO, 2023).

Emotional Support- an intentional verbal and nonverbal way to show care and

affection for one another. By providing emotional support to another person, you
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offer them reassurance, acceptance, encouragement, and caring, making them feel

valued and important (Burleson, 2003).

Evidently- Clearly; that can be seen or understood easily. To say that something

that is obviously true.

Feeling- Feelings are subjective, evaluative, and independent of the sensations,

thoughts, or images evoking them. Any experienced sensation, particularly a

tactile or temperature sensation (e.g., pain, coldness) (APA Dictionary of

Psychology, n.d.).

Neglected- the failure of. a parent or other person with responsibility. for the

child to provide what is needed (State Statutes Search - Child Welfare

Information Gateway, n.d.). Neglect is worse than ignoring something. It's

ignoring it, failing to care for it, and probably harming it in the process.

Objective- Kelly, (2021) stated that objective most commonly means not

influenced by or based on a personal viewpoint—based on the analysis of an

object of observation only.

Parental Guidance- Parental guidance is offered independently or alongside

child psychotherapy. It involves giving help and support to parents regarding

issues like difficulties, and ongoing family crisis (Parental Guidance, n.d.).

Parental advice is a collaborative approach in which parents cooperate with their

children's counselors to find solutions to their problems.

Reliant- To rely on a person or thing is being self- reliant. A person or thing that

is reliant on something needs it and often cannot live or work without it (“Reliant

Definition and Meaning | Collins English Dictionary,” 2023).

Syndrome- A syndrome, is a group of symptoms that might not always have a

definite cause (What Exactly Are Syndromes?, 2023). a collection of

characteristics or symptoms that indicate an identifiable condition that frequently

occur simultaneously.

Theory- The word "theory" is frequently used casually to refer to an unsupported

assumption or intuition (What Is a Theory? A Scientific Definition | AMNH,

n.d.). A well-supported description of a phenomenon in the natural world,

including regulations, hypotheses, as well as facts, is called a theory.

REFERENCES

(Vivian Wang, 2022) TEDx Talks. (2022, February 9). Redefining the Middle

Child Stereotype: Life From the Middle | Vivian Wang |

TEDxValenciaHighSchool [Video]. YouTube.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PTL-tk13vyY

(American Psychological Association, 2004) APA Public Affairs Office. (2004,

March 21). Lack of Parental Support during Childhood Is Associated with

Increased Adult Depression and Chronic Health Problems, Study Finds.

https://www.apa.org.

https://www.apa.org/news/press/releases/2004/03/parental-support

(Li,2023) Li, P. (2023). 9 Tips On How To Stop Attention-Seeking Behavior in

Children. Parenting for Brain.

https://www.parentingforbrain.com/attention-seeking-behavior/

Werner (n.d.) Werner, C. (n.d.). Birth Order and Personality: The Science Behind

Middle Child Syndrome. Healthline.

https://www.healthline.com/health/mental-health/middle-child-

syndrome#:~:text=Middle%20child%20syndrome%20is%20the,of

%20being%20the%20middle%20child.

(Frothingham, 2020) Frothingham, S. (2020, February 28). What You Should

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https://www.healthline.com/health/mental-health/attention-seeking-

behavior#overview

(World Health Organization: WHO & World Health Organization: WHO, 2023)

World Health Organization: WHO & World Health Organization: WHO.

(2023). Depressive disorder (depression). www.who.int.

https://www.who.int/news-room/fact-sheets/detail/depression

(APA Dictionary of Psychology, n.d.) APA Dictionary of Psychology. (n.d.).

https://dictionary.apa.org/feeling

(State Statutes Search - Child Welfare Information Gateway, n.d.) State Statutes

Search - Child Welfare Information Gateway. (n.d.).

https://www.childwelfare.gov/topics/systemwide/laws-policies/state/

(Kelly, 2021) Kelly, J. (2021). “Subjective” vs. “Objective”: What’s The

Difference? In Dictionary.com. https://www.dictionary.com/e/subjective-

vs-objective/

(Parental Guidance, n.d.) Parental Guidance. (n.d.).

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%20is%20parental%20guidance%3F,social%2C%20physical%2C

%20behavioural%20or%20educational

(“Reliant Definition and Meaning | Collins English Dictionary,” 2023) Reliant

definition and meaning | Collins English Dictionary. (2023). In Collins

Dictionaries.

https://www.collinsdictionary.com/dictionary/english/reliant#:~:text=(r

%C9%AA%CB%88la%C9%AA%C9%99nt%20),or%20confidence%3B

%20dependent%20(on)

(What Exactly Are Syndromes?, 2023) What Exactly Are Syndromes? (2023,

March 5). University of Utah Health | University of Utah Health.

https://healthcare.utah.edu/the-scope/list/2017/12/what-exactly-are-

syndromes

(What Is a Theory? A Scientific Definition | AMNH, n.d.) What Is a Theory? A

Scientific Definition | AMNH. (n.d.). American Museum of Natural

History. https://www.amnh.org/exhibitions/darwin/evolution-today/what-

is-a-theory