Differing Domains of Actual Sibling Conflict Discussions and Associations with Conflict Styles and Relationship Quality

Four types of sibling conflict were identified in actual adolescent sibling discussions: equality and fairness, invasion of the personal domain, intrinsic harm, and relationships. Older [M = 14.97, standard deviation (SD) = 1.69 years] and younger siblings (M = 12.20, SD = 1.90 years) from 144 dyads discussed conflicts during a semi‐structured conflict task. Trained observers coded the topics discussed, and separate observers rated their conflict styles, whereas siblings rated their relationship quality. The proportion of conflicts of each domain differed by dyadic gender composition. Equality and fairness conflicts (and invasion of the personal domain conflicts for sister–sister pairs) were discussed the most frequently whereas intrinsic harm conflicts were associated with destructive conflict styles. Siblings' discussions of conflicts involving intrinsic harm were associated with older siblings' reports of negative relationship quality. The associations between these conflict topics and negative relationship quality were mediated by the siblings discussing the conflicts in destructive ways.     

Competing Processes of Sibling Influence: Observational Learning and Sibling Deidentification

Although commonly cited as explanations for patterns of sibling similarity and difference, observational learning and sibling deidentification processes have rarely been examined directly. Using a person‐oriented approach, we identified patterns in adolescents' perceptions of sibling influences and connected these patterns to sibling similarities and differences and sibling relationship qualities. Participants included two adolescent‐age siblings (firstborn age M = 16.39, second‐born age M = 13.78) from 171 maritally intact families. Two‐stage cluster analyses revealed three sibling influence profiles: modeling, deidentification, and non‐reference. Analyses revealed differences in the correlations between firstborn and second‐born siblings' personal qualities across the three groups and differences in the sibling relationship qualities of younger siblings who reported modeling vs. those who reported deidentifying from their older siblings. Discussion focuses on refining the study of sibling influence processes.     

Parent and Sibling Influences on the Quality of Children's Conflict Behaviours across the Preschool Period

Parent and sibling influences on children's development of conflict management strategies were examined. Data consist of naturally occurring, in‐home sibling disputes of 37 families at two time points. The siblings were approximately two and four years old at Time 1, and four and six years old at Time 2. Parents' and children's use of conflict strategies that reflect proactive autonomy assertions such as opposition and verbal and physical power were the focus of the current study. Results suggest that parents and siblings play an important role in shaping children's conflict behaviours over time. For instance, parents' reliance on unelaborated opposition to the child, and older siblings' increased use of physical power predicted decreases in younger siblings' ability to assert themselves during conflict. In addition, increased proportions of opposition from a younger sibling was associated with the older siblings using less verbal aggression and using more mature conflict strategies such as justifying their own behaviour to their younger sibling. As sibling conflict is a salient child rearing concern for parents, practical implications are discussed.     

Self-representations in Early Adolescence: Variations in Sibling Similarity by Sex Composition and Sibling Relationship Qualities

Self-representations play an important role in adolescent development. This study compared self-representations for siblings and explored whether sibling relationship characteristics are associated with similarities or differences in sibling self-concepts. We examined self-representations of 438 adolescent sibling dyads ( M age younger sibling  =  11.6 years, M age older  =  14.3 years), finding that siblings are, on average, similar in their self-representations. This similarity varied, however, depending on sex composition and sibling relationship qualities. Results indicated that sibling modeling, warmth, and conflict were especially influential in predicting sibling resemblance vs. dissimilarity.     

Power in Sibling Conflict during Early and Middle Childhood

Sources of power children use in sibling conflict during early and middle childhood were examined according to French and Raven's typology of power. Participants included 66 dyads with an older (M = 81.8 months, SD = 14.48 months) and younger (M = 56.2 months, SD = 13.03 months) sibling. Data based upon naturalistic observations were coded for conflict issues (object, procedure, and information), power types (coercive, information, and legitimate), power effectiveness (attempts and successes), and resolutions (win/lose and compromise). Siblings used coercive power in object issues and information power in procedural issues. Whereas younger siblings used legitimate power in procedural and object issues including win/lose and compromise outcomes, older siblings used coercive power in win/lose resolutions. Siblings did not differ in their effectiveness of power, but they were most effective when coercive power was employed. Findings are discussed in light of power theory and the development of conflict management skills.     

Sibling Relationships and Social-emotional Adjustment in Different Family Contexts

The aims of this study were to examine family type (nonstep, stepfather, stepmother, and single mother) and sibling type (full‐ and half‐siblings) differences in sibling relationship quality (positivity and negativity), and to investigate links between sibling relationship quality and child externalizing and internalizing problems. The sample included 192 families with a 5‐year‐old target child and an older sibling. In addition, 80 of these families included a third older child. Mothers and the older siblings (8 years and older) completed questionnaires and interviews regarding conflict and support in their sibling relationships, and parents and teachers reported on each child's social‐emotional adjustment. Sibling negativity (conflict, aggression) was highest in single‐mother families and full‐siblings were more negative than half‐ and stepsiblings. There was some evidence that sibling antagonism was associated with more child behavioral and emotional problems, but these effects were moderated by family type.     

I'm Telling! The Content, Context, and Consequences of Children's Tattling on their Siblings

Tattling on siblings was observed in 40 families with 2- and 4-year-old children. All but 5 children reported sibling misbehaviour to parents with younger siblings tattling largely to recruit parental help in resolving conflict issues, and older siblings tattling both in the context of conflict and merely to inform parents of their siblings' misbehaviour. Parents rarely reprimanded children for tattling, but either ignored it, or responded to information in tattlers' reports regardless of context or whether older or younger children tattled. Children did not tattle equally on all sibling transgressions, but emphasized physical aggression and property damage, issues that also elicited parental discipline. Tattling is discussed in relation to children's understanding of the dynamics and moral standards of family life.     

Siblings as Confidants: Emotional Understanding, Relationship Warmth, and Sibling Self-Disclosure

Associations among (a) self-disclosures between early adolescent siblings, (b) emotional understanding, and (c) relationship warmth were investigated. Grade 5–6 children (M age = 11.5 years) were interviewed concerning the incidence of disclosures to closest-in-age siblings (20 = older, 20 = younger), feelings regarding disclosing (or not), and sibling relationship quality. Warmth was measured with the Sibling Relationship Questionnaire (Furman & Buhrmester, 1985) and emotional understanding was assessed with the Hypothetical Relationships Picture Task (adapted from Schneider, 1989, & Aquan-Assee, 1992). Hierarchical multiple regressions indicated self-disclosure was positively associated with feeling good about sharing and negatively associated with reports of not trusting or not receiving emotional support from their sibling. Sibling relationship warmth was a key characteristic associated with both emotional understanding and self-disclosure; female target children demonstrated greater emotional understanding. Warmth, but not emotional understanding, was associated with self-disclosure. Findings are discussed in light of the importance of links between affective relationships and children's social-emotional understanding.     

Children's Physiological Regulation and Sibling Conflict as Correlates of Children's Conscience Development

Children's conscience, including the ability to experience guilt and engage in rule‐compatible behavior, develops across early childhood. The current study investigated whether within‐family variation in children's baseline respiratory sinus arrhythmia (RSA) and sibling conflict behavior were associated with individual differences in children's guilt and internalized conduct. Between‐family differences across sibling dyad gender compositions were also examined. A within‐family design that included 70 families with two siblings between the ages of 2 and 5 was utilized. Children's baseline RSA was measured while sitting quietly with their family. Mothers and fathers completed questionnaires that assessed siblings’ conflict behavior, guilt, and internalized conduct. Older siblings had higher levels of guilt and internalized conduct than younger siblings. Results from actor‐partner interdependence models indicated that there were no direct effects of children's baseline RSA. The interaction effects approached significance (p's ≤ .08) suggesting that older siblings’ conflict moderated the association between older siblings’ baseline RSA and both older and younger siblings’ guilt. In contrast, older siblings’ conflict was positively associated with older and younger siblings’ internalized conduct. Guilt and internalized conduct also differed for older and younger siblings in different dyad gender compositions. The results underscore the need for greater clarity regarding the function that siblings serve in promoting children's moral development during early childhood.     

Can Psychosocial Intervention Improve Peer and Sibling Relations Among War‐affected Children? Impact and Mediating Analyses in a Randomized Controlled Trial

Social resources are considered important protectors in traumatic conditions, but few studies have analyzed their role in psychosocial interventions among war‐affected children. We examined (1) whether a psychosocial intervention (teaching recovery techniques, TRT) is effective in improving peer and sibling relations, and (2) whether these potentially improved relations mediate the intervention's impacts on children's mental health. Participants were 428 Palestinian children [10–13 (mean = 11.29, standard deviation SD = .68)‐year‐old girls (49.4 percent) and boys (50.6 percent)], who were cluster‐randomized into the TRT and wait‐list control groups. They reported the quality of peer (friendship and loneliness) and sibling (intimacy, warmth, conflict, and rivalry) relations, and posttraumatic stress, depressive and psychological distress symptoms, as well as psychosocial well‐being at baseline (T1), postintervention (T2), and six month follow‐up (T3). Results showed gender‐specific TRT intervention effects: Loneliness in peer relations reduced among boys and sibling rivalry reduced among girls. The TRT prevented the increase in sibling conflict that happened in the control group. The mediating hypothesis was partially substantiated for improved peer relations, and beneficial changes in sibling relations were generally associated with improved mental health.     

Children's Interpretations of Ambiguous Provocation From Their Siblings: Comparisons With Peers and Links to Relationship Quality

This study investigated how six‐ to eight‐year‐old children interpret ambiguous provocation from their siblings. In particular, we examined how children's attributions of their siblings' intent (1) differed from those for their peers, (2) varied as a function of the structural features of the sibling relationship, and (3) were associated with the affective qualities of the sibling relationship. A total of 121 children were presented with ambiguous provocation scenarios in which three groups of agemates were described as the perpetrators of harm (siblings, friends, and disliked peers). Scenarios were designed to assess children's attributions of hostile, instrumental, and accidental intent. Children attributed more hostile intent to disliked peers than to siblings and less hostile intent to friends than to siblings. Accidental and instrumental intent attributions were equally likely for friends and siblings but less common for disliked peers. Children attributed more hostile intent to older siblings, and more instrumental intent to laterborn siblings who were chronologically younger. Children's attributions of siblings' intent were related to both parents' and children's reports of the affective features of siblings' interactions. Results provide new insight into how children's construals of others' actions are grounded in the unique features of their relationships with particular interaction partners.     

Family Talk about Internal States and Children's Relative Appraisals of Self and Sibling

This study investigated associations between preschoolers' conversations about internal states and their spontaneous appraisals of self and sibling. Thirty‐two preschoolers (M age = 3.9 years) were observed during naturalistic home interactions with mothers and younger siblings. Various features of mothers' and children's internal state language were coded. Children who talked about internal states to the baby and who talked more about the baby's perspective tended to appraise their sibling negatively relative to self. In contrast, mothers' references to internal states, as well as their promotion and encouragement of the child's own internal state talk, were negatively related to the differences between children's negative appraisals of self and sibling. These results support the social‐constructivist notion that the quality of children's interactions with family members is related to how they construe themselves in comparison to their siblings.     

Older sibling contribution to younger children's working memory and cognitive flexibility

We used structural equation modeling in the Early Childhood Longitudinal Study—Kindergarten Cohort (N = 17,020) to explore the influence of having an older sibling on kindergarten‐age focal children's cognitive self‐regulation. In model 1, we tested how having a sibling who is generally older than the focal child contributes to the focal child's working memory (WM) and cognitive flexibility (CF) upon entering kindergarten. In model 2, we assessed the contribution to the focal child's kindergarten WM and CF of having an older sibling in a non‐proximal age range (age 12–18) or not having siblings relative to having an older sibling in a proximal age range to the focal child (up to age 11). In model 3, we considered the contribution of having an older sister, an older brother, or both an older sister and an older brother of any age. Having an older sibling in general was associated with increased kindergarten WM, whereas having an older sister was related to increased WM and CF. Compared to having a proximal older sibling, having no siblings and having a non‐proximal older sibling were related to decreased WM and CF. Findings have implications for involving siblings in family interventions in early childhood.     

Sibling Similarities and Differences in Time Use: A Pattern-Analytic, Within-Family Approach

Similarities and differences in adolescent siblings' free time activities were investigated. Firstborns and second‐borns from 181 predominantly White, working, and middle‐class families reported on their time use and sibling relationships. Their parents reported on their socioeconomic status and neighborhood characteristics. Cluster analysis identified three groups of sibling dyads: Cluster 1 differentiated in leisure and time with friends, Cluster 2 differentiated in instrumental activities and time alone, and Cluster 3 did not differentiate in time use. Multinomial logistic regressions revealed that the longitudinal links between sibling relationship qualities and cluster membership were moderated by firstborns' sex. Findings highlight the importance of person‐oriented analytic strategies for understanding sibling similarities and differences and of within‐family variability in youth's time use.     

Teachers' Perceptions of Conflict with Young Students: Looking beyond Problem Behaviors

Teachers' judgments of relational conflict are unique indicators of children's academic and social adjustment. Using a large, hierarchically nested sample of preschoolers (N = 2282) and teachers (N = 597) this study examines the individual and classroom factors associated with teachers' ratings of conflict, both before and after adjusting for problem behaviors ratings. Over half of the variance in teachers' reports of conflict with children was explained by ratings of children's problem behaviors. However, many children had more (or less) conflict than predicted based on teacher‐rated problem behavior. Older children were more likely to have conflictual relationships with teachers than expected based on their level of problem behavior. Furthermore, teachers who reported more depression and lower self‐efficacy and teachers who were observed to provide less emotional support in the classroom tended to report more conflict with students in their classroom than expected based on levels of problem behaviors.     

Family Relations and the Adjustment of Young Children of Mexican Descent: Do Family Cultural Values Moderate These Associations?

This study examined the role of family cultural values as moderators of the association between family relations and the adjustment of young children. Fifty‐five families of Mexican descent with young children enrolled in Head Start programs in the Southwest participated. Mothers provided information about closeness of the mother–child relationship, warmth in the sibling relationship, child behavior problems, and familism and simpatía, or two cultural values associated with families of Mexican origin. The children's preschool teachers provided information about child emotional adjustment and social functioning with peers six months later. Familism was found to act as a moderator, whereby warmth and closeness in family relationships coupled with the endorsement of a family cultural value that complements these relationship characteristics was associated with more optimal functioning in preschool classrooms. Results demonstrate the need to evaluate family cultural values or beliefs systems in conjunction with qualities of family relationships as determinants of children's developmental outcomes. Specifically, familism emerged as a family characteristic capable of promoting young children's adjustment within and beyond the family context.     

Sibling Jealousy in a Triadic Context with Mothers and Fathers

The current study focused on jealousy between toddler and preschool siblings. Sixty-two families participated in triadic interaction sessions, in which mothers and then fathers were instructed to focus on one child (older sibling or toddler) while encouraging the other child to play with other toys in the room. Results indicated that child jealousy reactions differed between mothers and fathers, and parents behaved differently with older and younger siblings. Although older and younger siblings showed jealousy, older children were better than their toddler-age siblings at regulating jealousy responses and engaging in focused play. Further, younger siblings showed differences in jealous behavior when interacting with each parent, whereas older siblings showed somewhat greater behavioral consistency across parents, indicating internalization of emotion regulation style. Mothers expressed more happiness than fathers, and parents responded differently to older versus younger siblings' behaviors. Findings underscore the importance of examining emotion regulation processes within salient family relationships and of considering sibling interaction as a socialization context in which young children learn to negotiate emotional challenges.     

Aggressive and Prosocial Peer Group Functioning: Effects on Children's Social,School, and Psychological Adjustment

This study examined the effects of aggressive and prosocial contexts of peer groups on children's socioemotional and school adjustment. Data on informal peer groups, social functioning, and different aspects of adjustment were collected from multiple sources in a sample of elementary school children (149 boys, 181 girls; M age = 10 years). Multilevel analyses indicated that group aggressive and prosocial orientations made direct contributions to children's social, school, and psychological functioning. Group contexts also moderated the individual‐level relations between social behavior and self‐perceptions; prosocial behavior was associated with social or scholastic self‐perceptions more evidently in low prosocial and high aggressive groups. The results suggest that the peer group is an important context for children's performance and adjustment in various domains.     

Do Friendships and Sibling Relationships Provide Protection against Peer Victimization in a Similar Way?

Based on the notion that friendship may serve an important protective function against peer victimization, this study examined the moderating effect of reciprocal friends' prosociality on the link between a child's reactive aggression and victimization. The study also investigated whether a similar moderating effect could be found with respect to sibling's prosociality, given that sibling relationships have been found to provide social benefits comparable to friendships. These questions were addressed using a sample of 246 six‐year‐old twin pairs (246 boys and 246 girls). The results showed that a child's own reactive aggression uniquely contributed to the risk of victimization for both boys and girls. The link between reactive aggression and victimization was, however, moderated by reciprocal friends' prosocial behavior and siblings' prosocial behavior, respectively. The results are discussed in terms of their theoretical and prevention‐related implications for children at risk for peer victimization.