Group 4_Sibling Relationships and Adjustment from Middle Childhood Through Adolescence.pdf

HANDOUT Longitudinal Linkages Between Sibling Relationships and Adjustment from Middle Childhood Through Adolescence (Ji-Yeon Kim, Susan M. McHale, Ann C. Crouter, and D. Wayne Osgood; The Pennsylvania State University) Introduction Primary research aim − Examine how changes in sibling intimacy and...

HANDOUT Longitudinal Linkages Between Sibling Relationships and Adjustment from Middle Childhood Through Adolescence (Ji-Yeon Kim, Susan M. McHale, Ann C. Crouter, and D. Wayne Osgood; The Pennsylvania State University) Introduction Primary research aim − Examine how changes in sibling intimacy and conflict from middle childhood through later adolescence are linked to changes in youth’s perceived peer social competence and their symptoms of depression, and whether linkage patterns varied as a function of family structure characteristics Further topics of interest − Peer social competence o Examine whether changes in siblings’ warmth and conflict were linked to changes in youth’s perceived peer social competence from early in middle childhood through late adolescence, controlling for youth’s experiences with parents and their siblings’ level of peer competence o Test whether family structure characteristics moderate those linkages − Depressive symptoms o Examine the links between changes in both sibling intimacy and conflict and changes in siblings’ depression symptoms, controlling for parent–child relationship quality and siblings’ and parents’ depression symptoms o Test the moderating role of family structure characteristics in these linkages Method Participants − 197 maritally intact families: Mothers, fathers, firstborn & second-born siblings − Equal distribution of siblings` sex constellations − Siblings mean age differences: 2.5 years Procedure − Longitudinal study: annual data collection over 5-6 years (starting point 1995-1996) − Home interviews and questionnaires with all family members Measures − − − − − − Sibling relationships: Sibling intimacy & sibling conflict Parents responsiveness/ acceptance Parent-child conflict Perceived peer social competence Youths´ and parents` depressive symptoms General family background information Results Multilevel modeling (MLM): − Nested nature of the data; o Nested data = data collected from multiple individuals in a group and the individual data are considered nested within that group − Focus on within-individual change over time − Allows the researchers to examine whether changes in sibling experiences are linked to changes in youth adjustment − Tests whether the links between sibling relationships and youth adjustment are stronger for younger than for older siblings − Focuses on within-individual variation and treats each individual as their own control Social competence and depressive symptoms: − Changes in sibling intimacy were linked to changes in social competence o Stronger for younger siblings − Changes in sibling conflict were linked to changes in depressive symptoms o Did not vary by birth order − Social competence increasing from age 7 to about age 13 and then declining − Depressive symptoms decline between age 8 and age 10, begin to rise again after about age 11, peak about age 16, and then decline o Results also reveal a main effect for sex, with girls reporting more depressive symptoms at age 13 Overall growth curves for peer social competence and depressive symptoms: − Higher sibling intimacy was associated with higher perceived social competence and lower depressive symptoms − Higher sibling conflict was associated with lower perceived social competence and higher depressive symptoms − Sex moderates the link between sibling intimacy and depressive symptoms o Boys reported higher levels of peer competence than girls − Birth order as a significant moderator of the relationship between sibling intimacy, youth perceived social competence and depressive symptoms − No significant moderation effects for family size or dyad sex constellation Discussion What did they do in the study? − Charted the development of peer social competence and depression symptoms from childhood through adolescence and tested whether changes in sibling relationship qualities were linked to changes in these dimensions of youth adjustment. Changes in perceived peer social competence − Youth’s perceived social competence increased across childhood, reached its highest point at about age 13, and then declined in adolescence − No sex differences, but birth order differences in this pattern − Possible mediator of increases in social competence: o Children’s adjustment to the transition to school o Increasing social cognitive skills Changes in depressive symptoms − High point in the early part of middle childhood, declined afterwards. − Increased in adolescence, and stabilized or declined slightly in later adolescence − More pronounced for girls than for boys − Possible mediator for higher levels of depression symptoms in early part of middle childhood o Stresses of the transition to school and children’s adjustment to the everyday social comparisons and evaluations that characterize school experience − Findings for boys’ changes in depressive symptoms unclear and inconsistent with prior research (increases vs. stability): this study found slight increases or stability after age 13/14 Role of birth order − Second-borns’ developmental patterns tended to emerge 2–3 years prior to those of firstborns − Birth order effects in line with family systems perspective: interdependencies among family members’ experiences − Stressors in the larger family environment affect both siblings at the same point in time, when siblings differ in age − Firstborn’s transition to adolescence may be stressful to the family as a whole − Later-borns’ adjustment patterns are tied to the developmental status of firstborns Links between sibling relationships and social competence and depressive symptoms − Possible mediators: social learning processes including modeling and reinforcement − Having a close sibling relationship o Source of advice and support o Social opportunities with a different peer group o Positive adjustment (RPF) − Having frequent sibling conflict o Youth may be stressed o Maladaptive interaction styles o Negative adjustment (RPF) o Changes here – changes in depressive symptoms − BUT: Causal scenario may work the other way: youth may bring social competencies and deficits learned with peers to bear in their sibling relationships. Probably both directions of effect. − Most research: older siblings’ influence on younger siblings (role models & earlier exposure to the risks of adolescence) − This study: second-borns were not more affected by their sibling experiences than were firstborns, at least in the case of social competence and depressive symptoms. Directions for future research / Limitations − More diverse sample needed o Other ethnic groups where familism values are more important (conflict with siblings may be a more powerful risk factor) − Characteristics of youth such as personality qualities should be examined, as possible moderators − This study only used a correlational design o Suggests a causal process, inferences about causal relations cannot be made o Youth adjustment may cause sibling relationship experiences or the other way around. o Unmeasured factors could be operative here Summary − Findings highlight the significance of siblings in one another’s development and wellbeing. − Relative to other close relationships (parent– child, peer), sibling relationships have received considerably less attention by researchers. − This study of siblings may shed light on how families operate as systems and suggest new directions for examining family influences on youth development.