Research Findings: Young children's relationships with their sisters and brothers offer unique and important opportunities for learning about emotions and developing emotional understanding. Through a critical analysis, this article examines sibling interaction in 3 different but normative contexts (conflict/conflict management, play, and…

Siblings have considerable influence on one another's development throughout childhood, yet most human development research has neglected sibling socialization. Through this volume, we aim to enhance our understanding of how siblings play formative roles in one another's social and emotional development. We examine the mechanisms by which children…

We examined the role of emotion regulation (ER) in improving sibling relationship quality (SRQ) by evaluating the More Fun With Sisters and Brothers Program where 4- to 8-year-old siblings from 95 families were taught emotional and social competencies. Parents reported on SRQ and ER, and sibling interactions were observed in homes. SRQ and ER…

This study examined the extent to which children and parents have concordant views about parental differential treatment (PDT) and whether such concordance is linked with variations in sibling relationship quality. Seventy-four 11- to 13-year-old children, their older siblings, and their parents were interviewed about their experiences with PDT…

Examined correspondence between parents' beliefs about effective sibling-conflict-management strategies and their responses to their children's spontaneous sibling conflicts. Found that use of a particular conflict-management strategy was based on parents' perception of its effectiveness and how well they could carry it out. Parents perceived…

Examined whether established associations between perceptions of parental differential treatment (PDT) and sibling relationship quality are moderated by children's perceptions and attributions of parental behavior in 61 children (11-13 years) and their siblings. Children did not perceive PDT in two-thirds of instances reported; 75% who…

Examined how sibling relationships were portrayed in a sample of 261 children's books, as well as how parents were depicted when responding to sibling conflict. Found that although children's books often represented warmth and involvement between siblings, they rarely described conflict management or relational maintenance activities. Parents were…

A review of popular press books and articles published between 1975 and 2000 was conducted to delineate areas in which the advice given to parents about the transition to a second child is consistent with or diverges from results of relevant research. Results highlight the need for researchers and popular press writers to acknowledge their…

Evaluates a new approach to improving sibling relationships in which social skills training was used to coach small groups of children (n=21) in prosocial sibling behaviors. Results show that children in the training group exhibited increased warmth, decreased rivalry, fewer problematic sibling behaviors, and a reduced status/power differential…

Mothers' and fathers' responses to their children's spontaneous sibling conflicts were observed. Findings indicated that associations between parents' conflict management strategy and sibling interaction quality varied according to children's ages, gender of the monitoring parent, and type of strategy. Passive nonintervention was highly associated…

Parental appraisals of their children's sibling relationships, and their standards for sibling relationships, were assessed. Although parents reported most concern about their children's Agonism and Rivalry/Competition, the largest discrepancies between parental standards and observations involved behaviors reflecting Warmth. Results endorse…