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. 2019 Nov;90(6):2118-2134.
doi: 10.1111/cdev.13078. Epub 2018 Jun 19.

Children's Vulnerability to Interparental Conflict: The Protective Role of Sibling Relationship Quality

Patrick T Davies  1 , Lucia Q Parry  1 , Sonnette M Bascoe  1 , Meredith J Martin  2 , E Mark Cummings  3
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Children's Vulnerability to Interparental Conflict: The Protective Role of Sibling Relationship Quality

Patrick T Davies et al. Child Dev. 2019 Nov.

Abstract

This study tested whether the strength of the mediational pathway involving interparental conflict, adolescent emotional insecurity, and their psychological problems depended on the quality of their sibling relationships. Using a multimethod approach, 236 adolescents (Mage = 12.6 years) and their parents participated in three annual measurement occasions. Tests of moderated mediation revealed that indirect paths among interparental conflict, insecurity, and psychological problems were significant for teens with low, but not high, quality bonds with siblings. High-quality (i.e., strong) sibling relationships conferred protection by neutralizing interparental conflict as a precursor of increases in adolescent insecurity. Results did not vary as a function of the valence of sibling relationship properties, adolescent sex, or gender and age compositions of the dyad.

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Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
A total effect moderated-mediation model that testing sibling relationship as a moderator of prospective associations among interparental conflict and adolescent emotional insecurity and psychological problems. Emotion = Emotional Reactivity; Avoid = Avoidance; Involve = Involvement; Reps = Negative Representations. * p < .05.
Figure 2
Figure 2
A graphical plot of the interaction between interparental conflict and sibling relationship quality at Wave 1 in predicting subsequent change in adolescent insecurity from Waves 1 to 2.
Figure 3
Figure 3
Figure 3a. A graphical plot of the interaction between interparental conflict and constructive sibling relationship properties at Wave 1 in predicting subsequent change in adolescent insecurity from Waves 1 to 2. Figure 3b. A graphical plot of the interaction between interparental conflict and destructive sibling relationship quality at Wave 1 in predicting subsequent change in adolescent insecurity from Waves 1 to 2.
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