Sibling Interaction Research Articles

The Development of Patterns of Stable, Transient, and School-Age Onset Aggressive Behavior in Young Children

To examine the development of patterns of aggressive behavior in children from the age of 2 to 8 years. Children with early histories of aggressive behavior were selected from a community sample of 2,400 infants participating in a longitudinal study. The sample was divided into four groups: children with stable aggressive behavior, those with transient aggression, those with aggression only after age 5 years (late onset), and a comparison group of nonaggressive children. Children with stable aggressive behavior were characterized by a difficult temperament, hostile sibling interactions, maternal perception of the child as difficult, and harsher child-rearing practices. Children whose early aggression decreased over time and those who became aggressive only after entering school could not be reliably classified with the selected family variables. Teacher ratings of temperament factors of task orientation and reactivity and ability ratings correctly classified 74% of children whose aggression began at school-age. Children with persistent aggressive behavior differed from those who improved, predominantly in terms of symptom severity. Problems with aggression can be identified early in development, and a significant proportion of aggressive children are at risk for continuing social and scholastic difficulties. Knowledge of associated factors may play an important role in prevention.

Caregivers' Encouragement Of Positive Interaction Between Preschoolers With Autism And Their Siblings

This study represents an attempt to build a home-based intervention package wherein caregivers encourage positive interactions between young children with autism and their siblings. Using a previously validated, classroom-based social skills intervention package, caregivers in three homes were able to produce substantial improvements in sibling interactions. Social validation assessment revealed that the modified intervention package was easy and enjoyable to follow. Moreover, caregivers reported interest in continuing to use the package after study completion.

Parent ratings of EAS temperaments in twins, full siblings, half siblings, and step siblings.

A twin/family design was used to explore genetic contributions to personality; to evaluate whether twins and nontwins yield different genetic results; and to test for the presence of contrast effects, the tendency of a rater to contrast one sibling with the other, thereby magnifying existing behavioral differences. The sample consisted of 708 adolescent same-sex sibling pairs from 10 to 18 years of age. Pairs included identical (monozygotic; MZ) and fraternal (dizygotic; DZ) twins, and full siblings in nondivorced families; and full, half, and unrelated siblings in stepfamilies. Mothers and fathers rated the temperament of their children on the EAS Temperament Survey (A. H. Buss & R. Plomin, 1984). Model-fitting analyses revealed significant genetic influences on each of the four EAS dimensions; however, for some dimensions, heritability estimates were significantly greater for twins than for nontwins. Overall, the data were best described by a sibling interaction model, which indicated significant contrast effects.

Theory of Mind Is Contagious: You Catch It from Your Sibs

This study investigated the relation between family size and ''theory of mind.'' Results from an experiment with 3- and 4-year-olds showed that children from larger families were better able than children from smaller families to predict a story character's mistaken (false-belief based) action. Results from a second experiment on children with exactly 1 sibling failed to show any superiority of older over younger siblings in promoting earlier understanding of belief. The data are interpreted as suggesting that sibling interaction provides a rich ''data base'' for building a theory of mind, and this is discussed in relation to other studies showing that particular kinds of interaction between sibling and child, or caregiver and child, have a beneficial effect on the understanding of false belief.

Sibling relationships from the preschool period through middle childhood and early adolescence.

Stability and correlates of individual differences in children's relationships with their siblings between early childhood and adolescence were studied in 39 sibling dyads, using home observations and maternal interviews in the early childhood period and interviews with mothers and children at the later time points. Stability of individual differences found over the 7 years increased with age. The behavior of the other sibling in the preschool period related to both older and younger siblings' behavior at the last time point. Life events were associated with increased warmth between the children. By preadolescence, gender and socioeconomic status (SES) were related to differences in the relationship. Multiple regression showed that preschool measures of sibling interaction contributed independently of gender and SES to the variance in individual differences in positive aspects of the relationship at early adolescence

A Comparison of Sibling Interaction in Intact and Single-Parent Families

A comparison of the interactions of siblings in single-parent and intact homes was undertaken. Regardless of parental marital status, children spent the greatest proportion of their time in prosocial and dominance behaviors. Preschool children in single parent homes showed significantly more imitation and their siblings displayed more dominance and less prosocial behavior. No significant differences in levels of agonism were found. Despite this, the single mothers' perceptions of the sibling relationship were more negative than the married mothers'. This may be due to less emotionality and more sibling guidance in the relationship. The ultimate heallhfulness of this pattern of sibling interaction remains to be seen.

Nature and nurture: Genetic contributions to measures of the family environment.

Research suggests that measures of the family environment show genetic effects when treated as phenotypes in behavioral genetic analyses. We explored this issue as part of the Nonshared Environment in Adolescent Development project using diverse questionnaire measures of parent-child and sibling interactions. The sample consisted of 707 pairs of siblings from 10 to 18 years of age in a novel design (identical and fraternal twins and full siblings in nondivorced families, and full, half, and unrelated siblings in stepfamilies). Model-fitting analyses yielded evidence for significant genetic effects for 15 of 18 composite measures. On average, more than a quarter of the variance of these environmental measures can be accounted for by genetic differences among children

Sibling interactions and children's communicative competency

Eighty-six sibling dyads were observed interacting on two tasks in a laboratory setting. Their behaviors were examined in relation to relative ordinal position, communicative status, and verbal and nonverbal competencies of the children. Approximately half of the dyads included a 5- to 7-year-old target child who was diagnosed as communication handicapped (CH). The remaining target children were not handicapped (NH). Behaviors of target children varied with communicative status and ordinal position of the target child relative to the sibling. For example, target children who were born earlier relative to their siblings were less likely than later-born children to engage in reciprocal cooperative interchanges with siblings or comply with strategies for problem solving that were proposed by their siblings. For some behaviors, earlier-born CH target children resembled the younger, later-born children in the nonhandicapped dyads more than they did their own NH peers.

Sibling visitation: how far should the pendulum swing?

This study describes development of early interaction between siblings. Subjects (N = 22) were the older siblings (30 to 52 months) of healthy new babies. Data were collected to describe initial contact, regressive behaviors, and extent and quality of sibling interaction at 3 weeks, 5 months, and 7 months. Patterns of visualization, touch, and communication were observed. There was no evidence of sibling regressive behavior. Behaviors were more positive than negative and older siblings were in proximity for initiation of interaction by the new baby at 5 and 7 months. Findings indicate positive sibling relationships may be the norm rather than the exception.

The Contribution of Mother-Child and Father-Child Relationships to the Quality of Sibling Interaction: A Longitudinal Study

The Contribution of Mother-Child and Father-Child Relationships to the Quality of Sibling Interaction: A Longitudinal Study

Genetic and environmental influences on maternal and sibling interaction in middle childhood: A sibling adoption study.

Genetic and environmental influences on maternal and sibling interactions were examined in 67 mother-child-child triads from nonadoptive families and 57 mother-child-child triads from adoptive families (in which both children were adopted and genetically unrelated). Triads were videotaped in 6 play settings in their homes. In addition, each sibling pair was observed in an unstructured setting in the home, and mothers completed an interview about the sibling relationship

Genetic and environmental influences on maternal and sibling interaction in middle childhood: A sibling adoption study.

Genetic and environmental influences on maternal and sibling interaction in middle childhood: A sibling adoption study.

Individual characteristics, child‐mother and child‐younger sibling interactions of 4‐year‐olds

AbstractThis paper is concerned with the relations between the individual characteristics (Temperament, Locus of Control, Self‐concept) of 4‐year‐olds, child‐mother and child‐sibling interactions. The temperamental characteristics Active and Moody, and the Self‐concept categories Worrying/Cross and Likes to be Alone, had generally similar relations to child‐mother and child‐sibling interactions, but the other characteristics did not. The relations between child‐mother and child‐sibling interactions did not support either the hypothesis that a ‘good ’ child‐mother relationship leads to ‘good ’ interactions with a sibling, or that firstborns compensate for a ‘poor ’ child‐mother relationship with a ‘good ’ sibling one. The relations were more complex than either of these hypotheses would suggest, but made intuitive sense.

Sibling-directed Internal State Language, Perspective Taking, and Affective Behavior

This study examined relations among preschoolers' sibling-directed internal state language, perspective-taking abilities, and sibling-directed affective behaviors in 32 sibling dyads (aged 14 months and 3-4 years) during naturalistic home observations. Preschooler references about internal states (emotions, wants, abilities) were significantly more likely to be (a) about the toddler than the self, and (b) made in the mother's absence and during sibling conflict and play. Relative to poor perspective takers, skillful perspective takers (a) engaged in more instances of internal state discourse and (b) talked more frequently about both the toddler and themselves. Preschoolers engaging in high levels of positive affective behavior also spoke more frequently about internal states than children engaging in low levels of positive affective behavior. Discussion of results highlights the notion that internal state language may be one way of regulating sibling interaction and also a potential means for siblings to construct shared meanings about their world.

Sibling Interactions in 1950s versus 1980s Sitcoms: A Comparison

A Comparison of how children interact with their brothers and sisters on such 1950s situation comedy television programs as Leave It To Beaver and Father Knows Best with those on such 1980s programs as The Cosby Show and Family Ties finds that children interacted more positively in the early period but were important and central—if more conflictual—to the main story action in the 1980s. Drawing on Bandura's social learning theory the study speculates: What is learned by children watching? Also, do these program changes reflect changes in television production, or changes in society? Perhaps both, this study speculates.

Genetics of type a behavior in two European countries: Evidence for sibling interaction

Young male twins in The Netherlands and England completed the Jenkins Activity Survey (Dutch and English versions, respectively), a measure of Type A behavior. Separate model fitting analysis revealed a similar pattern of variance estimates and associated goodness of fit across the two countries. The data were then analyzed concurrently, with a scalar parameter included to account for differences in variance due to the disparity of the measurement scales. A model including additive genetic and individual environmental effects gave a good explanation to the data. The heritability estimate was 0.28. Models of social interaction and dominance explained the data even better, the former being preferred. The twins' parents were included in the analysis to examine population variation for Type A behavior intergenerationally. There was evidence for individual environmental experiences having a greater influence on Type A behavior in the older generation.

Familial Transmission of Essential Hypertension: Genes, Environments, and Chronic Anger

Abstract Families transmit risk for essential hypertension (EH) via parents' genes and through learned patterns of behavior. Evidence linking anger with EH risk and the success of family-based approaches to early risk reduction create a need to understand how families might transmit heightened vulnerability to chronic anger arousal. Behavioral genetic research suggests that trait hostility, like high blood pressure, is heritable, and that social environments influence genetic expression. Yet pathways by which family environments foster chronic anger may not be the parenting behaviors emphasized in prominent theories of child development. Instead, research reviewed in this article suggests that susceptibility to frequent, prolonged anger is affected more by unshared family experiences arising out of marital discord, intra-familial alliances, and asymmetrical sibling interaction patterns. These processes influence the development of social competence, defined in terms of self-directive goals, self-evaluative standards, and social influence skills. Competence deficits foster persisting vulnerability to a syndrome of strong negative interpersonal emotions associated with heightened cardiovascular reactivity and disease risk. Early family intervention may prevent or modify these deficits.

Gendered differences in parents' encouragement of sibling interaction: implications for the construction of a personal premise system

Fathers' and mothers' encouragement of sibling interaction was examined in two-child families when the younger sibling was 5 weeks old and the older sibling about 22 months old and then approximately 3 months later. Concordant with the theories of J. Block (1982) and J. H. Block (1983,1984), fathers' and mothers' own linguistic behaviour as well as their encouragement of their children's behaviour reflected gender-specific patterns with fathers demonstrating as well as encouraging more accommodative or agentic patterns and mothers demonstrating as well as encouraging more assimilative or communion- enhancing patterns. Among other things, fathers more actively directed the older sibling's attention to the younger sibling, particu larly when both children were female. Likewise, fathers more than mothers more often responded to male infants' rather than female infants' movements and sounds, thus giving young boys more contin gent responsiveness which is thought to promote mastery and indepen dence. On the other hand, mothers more often vocalized to, and tried to establish contact with, the infant, especially when the older sibling present was female. Parents vocalized more often to children when mothers were paired alone with the children and fathers were paired alone with them, suggesting the importance of participation in smaller, rather than larger, family groups for the development of productive language skills. Finally, parental vocalizations, particularly those directed to the older sibling, decreased substantially over time, while parental vocalization to the infant increased over time, suggesting concerns for the quality of home linguistic environment when more children are added to the family.

General/Theoretical Anthropology: Sibling Interaction across Cultures: Theoretical and Methodological Issues. Patricia Goldring Zukow, ed

<b>General/Theoretical Anthropology: Sibling Interaction across Cultures: Theoretical and Methodological Issues</b>. <i>Patricia Goldring Zukow</i>, ed

Sibling Relationships in Adulthood: Contact Patterns and Motivations

context of relationship quality variables (emotional closeness, sibling responsibility expectations, and conflict), and individual and family characteristics (sibling age differences, number of siblings, geographic proximity, sex of respondent, sex composition of sibling pair, and whether the respondent has coresident children). Through a two-stage systematic sampling procedure of telephone and mail surveys, a sample of 313 adults aged 25 years or older with living siblings was obtained from a southwest Virginia urban area. The proportion of variance explained by the predictors were significant and substantial for each criterion (dependent variable R2 s of. 65, .37, and .69). Emotional closeness, sibling responsibility expectations, and geographic proximity were most important in explaining dimensions of sibling interaction. These reflect the significance of internal states, cultural expectations and family norms, and practical opportunities for interaction, in matters concerning aspects of the sibling relationship. The sibling role potentially has the longest duration of any human relationship (Cicirelli, 1980b). Over 80% of American children grow up in a family that includes siblings (Mussen, Conger, and Kagan, 1974), and in late adulthood 79% have living siblings (Harris and Associates, 1975). There are cultural expectations that the sibling relationship should be more emotionally close, meaningful, and enduring than other interpersonal associations, as evidenced by denoting a close friend as like a or like a sister. In religious organizations, fraternal orders, or the military, the titles brother or sister connote solidarity and equality (Pollak, 1967). Liebow (1967) documented that impoverished urban blacks, lacking family ties, construct such associations by going for brothers as an attempt to create more stable, dependable relationships. Despite the prevalence of the sibling role in adulthood, and the expectations that sibling relationships be especially stable and emotionally close, the family relationships of siblings in adulthood have received little research attention. Research on family relationships across adulthood typically focuses upon the marital or parent-child pair and much less so upon the role that other kin may play in adult development. Most research on siblings has dealt with childhood or later life. For several decades, social and behavioral scientists have lamented the lack of research on adult sibling relationships (Cicirelli, 1980b; Goetting, 1986; Irish, 1965; Schvaneveldt and Ihinger, 1979; Streib and Beck, 1980). In conDepartment of Family and Human Development, Utah State University, UMC 29, Logan, UT 84322-2905.