The benefits of infant intervention programs depend on their appropriateness to the characteristics of the baby, the environment, and the transactions between them. For healthy, normal infants, intervention will be superfluous at best. A basic prerequisite for designing any intervention program is an understanding of the fundamental importance of…

Children have a variety of reactions to a sibling birth that includes disruptions in their physical and psychological functioning as well as apparent growth in these same areas. Explores the variety of factors that influence reactions to the sibling's birth and the relationship between the siblings. (BJV)

Examination of children with disabled siblings reveals that nondisabled children may treat their siblings more kindly and spend more time caring for them than do children with nondisabled siblings. Their experiences may produce more worries and anxieties; however, they also may develop more tolerance and humanitarian concerns. (Author/BJV)

The experience of siblings of a child with a life-threatening illness may be seen at the juncture of the following perspectives: (1) the family system; (2) a focus on living rather than on dying; and (3) a view toward positive adaptation rather than toward psychopathology. The most critical focus is on the sibling-patient relationship itself. (BJV)

Siblings as teachers and therapists are viewed from the following perspectives: (1) within the context of the family system; and (2) as a distinct dyadic relational system. Both possibilities and limitations of sibling helping are discussed. (Author/BJV)

Proposes a theoretical framework of sibling conflict that includes temperamental characteristics of the siblings, the parent-sibling relationship, and the interaction between these factors. Continuing research validates this framework. (BJV)

The following factors are required for the development of favoritism: (1) a parent with an emotionally traumatic childhood; (2) a child with an unusual or stressful conception or birth; (3) the investment of a child's actions with "good" or "bad" meanings; and (4) severe marital conflict. To be a favorite is a mixed blessing.…

Examination of six one- and two-parent families reveals the following: (1) members of the same family have different perceptions of family experiences, including divorce and its impact on family relationships; (2) single parents seem to become closer to their children than do married parents; and (3) a one-parent two-sibling family differs from a…

Deidentification is the phenomenon whereby siblings are defined as different or contrasting. In pathological deidentification, the natural flow of sibling conflict and reconciliation seems obstructed as one sibling is assigned the fixed identity of "devil," who constantly harasses the other, "angel," sibling. A clinical…

Siblings are far more likely to be different than alike in personality and psychopathology. Different genes and different environmental experiences can account for why one sibling becomes mentally ill and another is not affected. Environmental experiences play a much greater role in sibling differentiation than has been previously recognized.…