Fully agree; often the troubled older kids have issues because their parents delegate a lot of adult responsibilities to them before these kids in question have time to be kids themselves. Having been down that route I can assure you that it messes you up, having to help crazy Mommy. Not helping raise a broodful of kids, but end up being the co-adult.
Quiverful types have no clue that a lot of these kids can end up a mess since they don’t get to be kids, but have to help out at an early age.
I don’t doubt it a bit. My neighbor’s oldest, the one who got into constant trouble after leaving the nest, was always touted as “very mature” and “adult-like”. But now if you meet him, he doesn’t seem anything like that...
It definitely stunts emotional maturity, IMO. The next in line is becoming just like him. He even comes over to handle his younger brother’s disciplinary problems, when he comes to visit my fiance’s child, when they are in town.
My post, however, should not be construed to being against homeschooling, as I am not. But I am against quiverful adherents who can’t really manage the homeschooling PLUS the brood size, usually as a result of attempting to meet financial demands of being quiverful.