The authors review the literature on sibling relationships in childhood and adolescence, starting by tracing themes from foundational research and theory and then focusing on empirical research during the past 2 decades. This literature documents siblings' centrality in family life, sources of variation in sibling relationship qualities, and the…

Previous research has demonstrated the protective effect of family and sibling closeness on child adjustment, but fewer studies have investigated how closeness is promoted within families. Guided by Family Communication Patterns Theory, we tested the association between family communication and sibling emotional and behavioral closeness, and…

Sibling warmth has been identified as a protective factor from life events, but stressor-support match-mismatch and social domains perspectives suggest that sibling warmth may not efficiently protect youths from all types of life events. We tested whether sibling warmth moderated the association between each of family-wide, youths' personal, and…

Guided by research and theory on sibling similarities and differences, this study explored the nature and correlates of 2 processes of sibling influence--social learning and sibling differentiation--during adolescence. Participants included 2 adolescent-age siblings (M = 16.29 years for older siblings and M = 12.59 years for younger siblings,…

Data were collected from 708 adult children nested within 274 later-life families from the Within-Family Differences Study to explore the role of perceived maternal favoritism in the quality of sibling relations in midlife. Mixed-model analyses revealed that regardless of which sibling was favored, perceptions of current favoritism and…

We investigated correlates of adolescents' sibling conflict resolution strategies in 246, two-parent Mexican origin families. Specifically, we examined links between siblings' conflict resolution strategies and sibling dyad characteristics, siblings' cultural orientations and values, and sibling relationship qualities. Data were gathered during…

We tested social comparison predictions about cross-sectional and longitudinal associations between parents' differential treatment of siblings and both youth depressive symptoms and sibling relationship qualities from middle childhood to late adolescence, controlling for dyadic parent-child relationships and siblings' ratings of parents'…

Several methods exist for typologizing dyadic relationships. The present study reviews the utility of methods for typologizing relationships, exploring the strengths and weaknesses of 3 different approaches, and applying them to the study of adolescent sibling relationships. The 3 methods examined are a priority methods, cluster analysis, 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…

We examine affective closeness, contact, and helping among adult siblings using data for over 1,500 respondents in 2-child families from the National Survey of Families and Households. Using this subsample allows us to investigate differences by gender of respondent and of individual siblings using a nationally representative sample. We find that…

Qualitative instrumental case study analysis of adult siblings from 2 families explores how socioeconomic inequality among them affects their relationships to one another. Eight middle-aged siblings' observations of childhood, parental expectations, work and family history, lifestyle, and current sibling ties indicate that childhood…

This study investigates the effect of childbearing on parental involvement in stepfamilies and intact families, based on the reports of 1,905 stepparents and biological parents from the National Survey of Families and Households. Regression analysis indicates that involvement with children declines over time, especially among respondents with only…

Older siblings' contributions to younger siblings' competence net of parenting processes were examined with 152 pairs of first-born (M=11.7 years) and second-born (M=9.2 years) siblings in rural, single-parent African American families. Structural equation modeling indicated that parenting was linked with older siblings' competence, which in turn…

This study examines how sibship characteristics affect educational attainment in Taiwan. Using a multilevel analysis of a sibling sample of 12,715 observations from 3,001 families drawn from a national survey, we investigate the effects of family size, sibship density, birth-order rank, and sibship gender composition. The results support the…