Linkages Between Parents’ Differential Treatment,Youth Depressive Symptoms,and Sibling Relationships |
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| Authors: | Lilly Shanahan Susan M McHale Ann C Crouter D. Wayne Osgood |
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| Affiliation: | 1. University of North Carolina at Greensboro;2. Pennsylvania State University *;3. Department of Human Development and Family Studies, The Pennsylvania State University, 105 White Building, University Park, PA 16802.;4. Pennsylvania State University **;5. College of Health and Human Development, The Pennsylvania State University, 201 Henderson Building, University Park, PA 16802.;6. Pennsylvania State University ***;7. Department of Sociology and Crime, Law, & Justice, 1002 Oswald, Pennsylvania State University, University Park Campus, PA 16802. |
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| Abstract: | We tested social comparison predictions about cross‐sectional and longitudinal associations between parents’ differential treatment of siblings and both youth depressive symptoms and sibling relationship qualities from middle childhood to late adolescence, controlling for dyadic parent‐child relationships and siblings’ ratings of parents’ fairness. Participants were parents and first‐ and second‐borns (M= 11.8 and 9.2 years old at Year 1) from 201 White, middle/working‐class families. Three‐level models revealed both cross‐sectional and longitudinal linkages between differential treatment and outcomes. For example, youth whose parent‐child relationships decreased in warmth relative to those of their sibling reported increases in depressive symptoms and decreases in sibling warmth. Gender and age moderated differential treatment‐depressive symptoms associations; birth order moderated differential treatment‐sibling relationship associations. |
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| Keywords: | adolescence depression middle childhood parental differential treatment sibling relationships |
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