General contact patterns, obligatory contact motivation, and discretionary contact motivation were examined regarding sibling relationships among 313 urban adults aged 25 or older. Emotional closeness, sibling responsibility expectations, and geographic proximity were most important in explaining dimensions of sibling interaction. (Author/TE)

This study of 16 pairs of older nonhandicapped siblings and same-sex younger mentally retarded siblings found that the amount of sibling interaction was related to the contexts of toy play, snacking, or television-viewing. Compared to nonhandicapped sibling pairs, older siblings of mentally retarded children more frequently assumed teacher,…

Tested relationships between negative and positive sibling interactions and relationship quality and family form. When husband-wife, mother-child, and father-child relationship quality were controlled, marital status was not significantly related to sibling interactions. When parental marital status was controlled, quality of spousal relationship…

Discusses how Dave Etter's poem "Brother" involves students by focusing on the themes of guilt and the love/hate complexity of a sibling relationship. Notes that Gina Berriault's story "The Stone Boy" and Harley Elliot's poem "Brothers Together in Winter" work well in conjunction with "Brother" as a thematic…

Two case studies in which siblings are seen together and separately provide the basis for discussing the importance of evaluating the needs and circumstances of children placed in foster care. (SW)

Examined the relationships between parental behaviors and sibling relationships. Only one difference emerged between rates of maternal and paternal behavior toward children. Paternal behavior accounted for unique variance in sibling relationship quality more often than maternal behavior did. (Author/GLR)

This interview conducted with adult twin sisters legally blind since birth focuses primarily on their experiences with residential education--their relationship with their family, positive and negative aspects of residential education, how the experiences shaped their adult life, and changes needed in residential schools. (JDD)

Examines the effect of birth order on child development, noting that spacing of children, gender, family size, and family configuration all play a role in determining what effect birth order will have. The article looks at various traits of firstborn, middle, lastborn, and only children. (SM)

This study examined the impact of maternal labeling of children as gifted on the sibling relationship in 144 pairs of firstborn and secondborn siblings classified as both gifted, firstborn gifted, secondborn gifted, or neither gifted. Five aspects of the sibling relationship were examined: warmth/closeness, status/power, conflict, maternal…

Evaluation of ascribed, parent-mediated child care roles of younger same-sex siblings of children with mental retardation (n=32) found role reversals evident in the sibling pairs consistent with roles assumed by siblings during observed interactions. Increased younger sibling child care roles were related to less conflicted sibling relationships.…

Four experiments and an analysis of pooled data from English and Japanese children show a linear increase in understanding false beliefs with number of older siblings; no such effect for children younger than 38 months; no helpful effect of younger siblings at any age; no effect of siblings' gender; and no helpful effect of siblings on a source…

A family process model was used to link mothers' and fathers' psychological functioning to sibling relationship quality in a sample of 9- to 12-year-old African American youth (N=85) living in the rural Southeastern United States. Better parental psychological functioning was linked to more supportive relationships in the family, and youth in…

Describes a model developed for use with parents and older sibling survivors who have experienced a family member's suicide. The model combines solution-focused interventions with an adapted Critical Incident Stress Debriefing model. The model encourages survivors to participate in an experiential process that promotes discussion and…

Explores whether the effects of sibling birth are mediated by associated changes in the family environment and changes in family members' interaction patterns. Data from a national longitudinal survey indicate that the birth of a sibling lessened positive interactions with the older child and mothers increasingly adopted controlling parenting…

Compared pretend play enactment, negotiation, internal state language, and sibling relationship quality in 40 kindergartners with older or younger siblings. Found that frequent pretend play dyads used more high-level negotiation and internal state language than infrequent pretend dyads. Friendly relationship quality was negatively related to…