Differential Associations Between Domains of Sibling Conflict and Adolescent Emotional Adjustment

Abstract

Issues of equality and fairness and invasion of the personal domain, 2 previously identified topic areas of adolescent sibling conflict (N. Campione-Barr & J. G. Smetana, 2010), were examined in 145 dyads (Mfirst-born = 14.97, SD = 1.69 years; Msecond-born = 12.20, SD = 1.90 years) for their differential effects on youths' emotional adjustment over 1 year. The impact of internalizing symptoms on later sibling conflicts also was tested. Invasion of the personal domain conflicts were associated with higher levels of anxiety and lower self-esteem 1 year later, whereas Equality and Fairness issues were associated with greater depressed mood. Conversely, greater internalizing symptomatology and lower self-esteem predicted more of both types of conflict. Moderating influences of gender and ordinal position were also examined.

Parent Psychopathology and Children’s Psychological Health: Moderation by Sibling Relationship Dimensions

“…Also, this study did not account for the direction of effects, and examined sibling relationship quality at only 1 time point. Some literature has found that greater internalizing symptomatology and lower self-esteem predicted increases in sibling conflict over time (Campione-Barr et al 2013), highlighting that the sibling relationship and youth psychological functioning have reciprocal influences. Also, this study focused on risk of parent factors for child outcomes, but studies show these associations to also have bidirectional influence.…”

“…Low warmth and high hostility within the sibling relationship have been associated cross-sectionally with high levels of internalizing problems including anxiety symptoms, depressed mood, and low self-esteem (Campione-Barr et al 2013; Dunn et al 1994a, b; Padilla-Walker et al 2010; Stocker 1994). Self-reported and observed sibling conflict and aggression have been associated with externalizing problems such as antisocial behaviors in youth, whereas sibling relationships characterized by collaboration and affection were not linked with externalizing behaviors (Aguilar et al 2001; Criss and Shaw 2005).…”

Sibling Cooperative and Externalizing Behaviors in Families Raising Children With Disabilities

“…However, Hastings and Taunt (2002) argue positive familial relationships help mitigate caregiver burden, therefore possibly improving TDS outcomes and decreasing caregiver burden. Although not including CWD, several studies examine links between sibling relationship qualities and individual child adjustment (Campione- Barr, Greer, & Kruse, 2013). In addition, Gass and colleagues (2007) report typically developing children with affectionate sibling relationships are less likely to demonstrate negative internalizing behavior after experiencing a stressful life event compared to children without such a relationship.…”

Innovation, engagement, and the evaluation of a parenting intervention for improving sibling relationships

“…In interacting with each other, siblings can reinforce or discourage learned behaviours and skills, with both positive and negative implications (Kramer, 2010;Parke & Buriel, 2006). Sibling interactions can promote prosocial behaviours such as helping each other learn how to share and take-turns (White, Ensor, Marks, Jacobs, & Hughes, 2014), to develop social reasoning (Dunn, 2002), to enhance emotional and cognitive development (Campione-Barr, Greer, & Kruse, 2013;Prime, Pauker, Plamondon, Perlman, & Jenkins, 2014), to safeguard against internalising problems, and to increase levels of self-regulation in adolescence (Padilla-Walker, Harper, & Jensen, 2010). In this way, siblings are developmentally advantageous and provide an important interactional context to helping individuals acquire crucial life skills.…”

“…Siblings impact each other's acquisition of interpersonal skills (Downey & Condron, 2004), cognitive development and sensitivity (Azmitia & Hesser, 1993;Prime et al, 2014), emotional development and adjustment (Campione-Barr et al, 2013;Kramer, 2014), social understanding (Dunn, 2002), sharing and prosocial skills (White et al, 2014), socio-cognitive reasoning skills (Slomkowski & Dunn, 1992), delinquent behaviour (Bank et al, 1996;Criss & Shaw, 2005;Patterson, 1986), behaviour problems in adolescence (Dunn et al, 1994), development of mental health and behavioural problems (Buist et al, 2013;Tucker et al, 2013), and protection against the adverse effects of marital discord (Jenkins & Smith, 1990). Such is the pervasiveness of the sibling relationship, the strongest predictor of well-being at age 65 among male Harvard alumni was found to be the quality of their sibling relationships during college (G. E. Vaillant & Vaillant, 1990).…”