Abstract
Close sibling relationships can serve as a salient source of support, particularly for individuals navigating stressors associated with emerging adulthood and minoritized identities. Using attachment theory and the temporal intersectional minority stress model as guiding frameworks, mixed-methods data were collected from 939 emerging adult college students to examine the role that siblings play in sexually diverse individual well-being. Sexually diverse emerging adults who perceived close sibling ties did not exhibit a negative effect of prospective anxiety on their self-esteem, but did experience an elevation in positive affect in the face of prospective anxiety, whereas sexually diverse individuals who had poor sibling relationships and heterosexual emerging adults did not show these protective effects. Interactions were not significant for negative affect. Sexually diverse emerging adults shared their lived experiences of how their siblings contribute to their well-being, including themes of affect, sibling interactions, sibling qualities, and coping within the relationship. Most sexually diverse individuals appeared to view a positive effect of siblings on their well-being despite less proximity to the family of origin.
Published Version
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