Emerging adulthood is a time filled with instability, but disclosure within close egalitarian relationships such as siblings, friends, and romantic partners can help when coping with stress. The present study examines patterns of disclosure across these relationships, as well as specific associations between relationships with siblings and peers.…

The present study examined features of sibling and friend dyads' connectedness (e.g., length and emotional tone of connected sequences) and the quality of the dyads' interactions during play from early to middle childhood. Forty-four families with a 4-year-old focal child were observed at Time 1 (T1) and again at Time 2 (T2) at age 7 in two…

Background: In recent times, sibling bullying has emerged of interest to researchers concerned with the emotional and behavioural implications for victimization regardless of type and setting. Aims: This research attempts to extend current knowledge on both peer and sibling bullying and to determine the effects of poly-setting victimization. This…

The aim of the present study was to explore whether protective factors, such as ease of communication with parents, siblings, and best friends; parental awareness of student's friends and activities; higher numbers of best friends; positive perceptions of school climate; and teachers' opinion of student's academic performance, would buffer the…

Research Findings: Studies of children's prosocial behavior typically focus on prosocial acts with a specific partner (e.g., a friend, peer, or sibling), and comparisons of prosociality in different contexts are rare. To address this gap, the current study examined predictive links among children's spontaneous sharing (a common and important form…

We investigated whether social relationships protect children against the effects of victimization on internalizing problems. We used data from the Zurich Project on the Social Development of Children and Youths. Victimization at age 8 years was associated with internalizing problems at age 9 years. Victims who had siblings, warm parents, and a…

We first examined how war-related traumatic events impact on peer and sibling relations, and how the quality of these relations in turn are associated with children's mental health, indicating a mediation model. Second, we tested the moderating (protective) effects of good peer and sibling relations in attenuating the link between trauma and…

This research examines whether siblings and friends resemble each other in supportive behavior. Using a Dutch national sample of 6,289 individuals containing 12,578 relationships with siblings and friends, we investigated the relative importance of gender composition, geographical proximity, relationship quality, and contact frequency for support…

The impact of childhood chronic health conditions like spina bifida (SB) is a shared family experience. However, the lived experience of siblings is not well known. One hundred and fifty-five brothers and sisters of a child with SB responded to an open-ended question included in an anonymous self-administered mail questionnaire designed to enhance…

Analysis of questionnaires completed by 112 young adolescents showed that frequency of conflict was significantly related to ratings of the friend's importance and satisfaction with the friendship, but was not related to sibling relationship ratings. Developmental implications of relationship differences in interpersonal conflict are discussed,…

Examined connections between having a sister versus a brother and coming from a same-sex versus an opposite-sex sibling dyad, and sex-typing in adolescents' friendships. Findings suggested that sisters may learn control tactics from brothers that they apply in friendships. Boys were less likely to model emotional intimacy. Coming from opposite-sex…

Based on the notion that friendship may serve an important protective function against peer victimization, this study examined the moderating effect of reciprocal friends' prosociality on the link between a child's reactive aggression and victimization. The study also investigated whether a similar moderating effect could be found with respect to…

Seventy kindergartners and 26 of their older siblings between ages 6 and 12 participated in this study of kindergartner's relationships with siblings, peers, and friends. Popular kindergartners tended to have positive feelings about and identify with a sibling, whereas kindergartners who highly rated a same-sex friendship tended not to have…

The interpersonal relationships of 337 adolescents from Canada, Belgium, and Italy were compared. Important discrepancies were found among the adolescents from the three countries. Family held the most central role for Italian adolescents, whereas friends were more central for Canadians, and Belgians were in between. Variations in cultural context…

This article presents quantitative and qualitative accounts of relational discourses in a random sample of approximately 4100 texts written by Irish young people (aged 10-12 and 14-17 years). The existence of such discourses is indicated by references to family and friends. The article shows that although the majority refer to such ties in their…