We all know which kid Mom and Dad liked best, and odds are you're thinking it's not you.
But does that really make a difference? It can, researchers say, but not always the way you might think.
Less-favored children are more likely to be using drugs, alcohol and cigarettes as teenagers, according to researchers at Brigham Young University in Provo, Utah.
But what matters is not how the parents actually treat the children, but how the kids perceive it.
"There's this cultural perception that you need to treat your children the same, or at least fairly," says Alex Jensen, a professor of psychology who led the study, which was published in the August Journal of Family Psychology. "But if kids perceive that it's not fair, that's when issues start to arise."
Earlier studies have found that many if not most parents do have a favorite child. And though parents usually strive to hide that, it's not always successful. That differential treatment has been linked to problems with family relationships and risky behavior in teens.
[For more of this story, written Nancy Shute, go to http://www.npr.org/blogs/healt...ts-more-than-reality]
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