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Parental Responses to School-aged Children’s Sibling Conflict

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Abstract

The goals of this study were: (1) to describe and compare parental responses to school-aged siblings’ conflicts; (2) to explore the sibling relationship structural correlates of the parental responses; and (3) to assess the links between type of parental response and sibling relationship quality and children’s psychosocial and physical well being. One parent from eighty-two families (mothers = 68; fathers = 13; 1 missing) of firstborn (Mage = 9.84 years old) and secondborn (Mage = 7.16 years old) children completed an anonymous survey. Parents employed a child-centered strategy most often and sanctioned sibling aggression least often in response to siblings’ conflicts. Closer age spacing among siblings was related to parents’ sanction of physical aggression. Parental response type was associated with sibling relationship quality and children’s psychosocial and physical well being. The differential associations between parental response type, sibling experiences and children’s mental and physical well being are discussed.

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  1. Department of Family Studies, Pettee Hall, University of New Hampshire, Durham, NH, 03824, USA

    Corinna Jenkins Tucker & Kerry Kazura

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  1. Corinna Jenkins Tucker
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  2. Kerry Kazura
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Correspondence to Corinna Jenkins Tucker.

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Tucker, C.J., Kazura, K. Parental Responses to School-aged Children’s Sibling Conflict. J Child Fam Stud 22, 737–745 (2013). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10826-013-9741-2

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10826-013-9741-2

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