Differential Accounts of Closeness in Older Adult Sibling Relationships

Folwell, Annette L.; Chung, Leeva C.; Nussbaum, Jon F.; Bethea, Lisa Sparks; Grant, Jo Anna

doi:10.1177/0265407597146008

Cited by 14 publications

(21 citation statements)

References 8 publications

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“…For instance, researchers have found that similarity influences feelings of closeness in many relationships, and researchers studying adult sibling relationship have found a similar pattern (Folwell et al, 1997). For example, Folwell et al (1997) found that siblings who share similarities in interests were closer than siblings who did not.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…This increased contact between full siblings as compared with stepsiblings could foster more supportive behaviors. Furthermore, research has demonstrated that siblings who are closer in age tend to be closer to one another than siblings of a greater age difference (Folwell, Chung, Nussbaum, Bethea, & Grant, 1997), which could foster the use of socially supportive behaviors. Many half-and stepsibling relationships have a greater variance in the age difference between siblings than full sibling relationships, and twins have no difference in age.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…For example, Folwell et al (1997) found that siblings who share similarities in interests were closer than siblings who did not. Further, genetic relatedness plays into the relationship between similarity and closeness in that genetic relatedness is part of that similarity.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Differential Solicitude of Social Support in Different Types of Adult Sibling Relationships

Mikkelson

Floyd

Pauley³

2011

Journal of Family Communication

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The sibling relationship is one of the longest relationships in people's lives, and it is one of the most diverse as it occurs in many different forms. The current investigation seeks to identify differences in the amount of social support received in adult sibling relationships. The sample consisted of 411 participants in 6 different types of sibling relationships: identical twins, fraternal twins, full biological siblings, half-biological siblings, stepsiblings, and adopted siblings. Employing of ideas of discriminative parental solicitude, we developed a hypothesis about which types of siblings receive the most social support from their siblings. The basic prediction was that siblings who are more genetically related to one another receive more social support than siblings who are less genetically related. Results supported these predictions, even when social and relational explanations were controlled.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Differential Solicitude of Social Support in Different Types of Adult Sibling Relationships

Mikkelson

Floyd

Pauley³

2011

Journal of Family Communication

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“…First, we considered characteristics of the sibling relationship prior to parental death. The quality of adult siblings’ relationships at midlife is shaped by the quality and frequency of their interactions earlier in the life course (Folwell et al 1997; Matthews and Rosner 1988). Furthermore, whether one’s aged parent engaged in end-of-life planning may reflect long-standing family dynamics.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

The Impact of Late-Life Parental Death on Adult Sibling Relationships

Khodyakov

Carr

2009

Res Aging

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The authors examined whether the effect of parental death on adults siblings' relationship quality varies on the basis of the presence and perceived effectiveness of a deceased parent's formal preparations for end-of-life care. The authors used data from the Wisconsin Longitudinal Study and focused on the relationship quality of a bereaved adult child and his or her randomly selected sibling. Parental death was associated with a decrease in sibling closeness. The parent's use of advance directives (living will and durable power of attorney for health care) did not have uniformly positive effects on adult siblings' relationship quality. Sibling relationships suffered when the living will was believed to "cause problems," but relationships improved when the deceased parent named someone other than his or her spouse or a child as durable power of attorney for health care. The authors discuss the implications for developing effective end-of-life preparations that benefit both the decedent and surviving kin.Keywords advance directives; bereavement; durable power of attorney for health care; living will; sibling relationships Parental death is a potentially distressing turning point for most adults because it severs one of the most enduring and emotionally significant bonds that individuals maintain over the life course (Moss and Moss 1983-1984). For midlife and older adults, the death of aged parents may force survivors to confront their own mortality and to critically reevaluate their lives and their role in their families (Umberson 2003). Deaths of elderly parents today typically occur after long-term illnesses that may require adult children to serve as caregivers (Marks et al. 2008) and to participate in difficult decisions about the prolongation or withholding of life-sustaining treatments. A vast body of research documents how relationships among midlife and older siblings are affected by their coordination of parental care during the final stages of their parents' lives (Checkovich and Stern 2002;Pillemer and Suitor 2006;Wolf, Freedman, and Soldo 1997). When adults perceive that they are providing more frequent or intensive parental care than their siblings are, relationships may grow strained both prior to and after the a parent's death (Hequembourg We know of no studies that explored whether adult sibling relationships following parental death are affected by parents' use of specific end-of-life health care preparations. Mounting research documents how aspects of end-of-life care, including the quality of medical care received by the dying patient (Carr 2003;Prigerson et al. 2003), the place of the death (Carr 2003), and the use of palliative care services (Miller, Gozalo, and Mor 2000) affect the psychological adjustment of bereaved older spouses. However, we know of no parallel studies exploring implications for bereaved adult children. We investigated one aspect of the end-of-life context: whether and to what end a deceased parent made formal preparations for end-of-life health care. Specificall...

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“…However, not only do young adults report different grandparents as being the one to whom they feel closest (Folwell & Grant, 1999a, 1999bThomas, 1995), they also report differential closeness with their set of grandparents (Folwell & Grant, 1999a, 1999bPecchioni & Berkos, 2001). Research indicates that a variety of factors influence reported closeness with grandparents.…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

Young Adults' Stereotypes of Older Adults with Their Grandparents as the Targets

Pecchioni

Croghan

2002

Journal of Communication

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Young adults' stereotypes of older adults have been well established in the literature, but the target of these stereotypes usually is an unknown older individual. Intergenerational interaction, however, is more common between people who are known to each other. Specifically, the older individuals with whom young adults most frequently interact are their grandparents. This study examines the role that closeness plays in mediating young adults' (n = 220) stereotypes of older adults. Consistently, young adults rate their closest grandparent more positively on exhibiting stereotypic behaviors and communicative ability than they do their least close grandparent. Although the grandparent's age does not influence the level of reported closeness, the level of closeness does influence perceptions of the older individual's behavior and abilities. Although closeness does mediate young adults' stereotypes of older adults, it does not preclude them from providing negative evaluations of some older individuals who are well-known to them.

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Differential Accounts of Closeness in Older Adult Sibling Relationships

Cited by 14 publications

References 8 publications

Differential Solicitude of Social Support in Different Types of Adult Sibling Relationships

Differential Solicitude of Social Support in Different Types of Adult Sibling Relationships

The Impact of Late-Life Parental Death on Adult Sibling Relationships

Young Adults' Stereotypes of Older Adults with Their Grandparents as the Targets

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