Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2021 May 31;17(2):1-12.
doi: 10.5964/ejop.2139. eCollection 2021 May.

A Pilot Study of Younger Sibling Adaptation: Contributions of Individual Variables, Daily Stress, Interparental Conflict and Older Sibling's Variables

Laura Merino  1 , Ana Martínez-Pampliega  1 , David Herrero-Fernández  2
Affiliations

A Pilot Study of Younger Sibling Adaptation: Contributions of Individual Variables, Daily Stress, Interparental Conflict and Older Sibling's Variables

Laura Merino et al. Eur J Psychol. .

Abstract

Older siblings are powerful socialization agents, playing a significant role in the sociocognitive, social, and emotional development of their younger siblings. However, there are few clues about the variables that explain younger sibling's adaptation. The objective of this pilot study was to identify the determinants of younger siblings' adaptation and to analyze the role played by personal, sibling, family and older siblings' variables using 50 dyads of siblings aged between 7 and 18 years. The variables considered were the sibling relationships and the maladaptation of older siblings, and individual (sex, number of siblings, extroversion, and agreeableness) and contextual variables (interparental conflict, daily stress) were controlled. Hierarchical multiple regressions provided evidence in favor of the model that analyzed the younger siblings' maladaptation to school, showing positive associations both with the older siblings' level of school maladaptation and with sibling conflict. In addition, the study highlighted the relevance of the trait of agreeableness and of family stress in the adaptation of younger siblings.

Keywords: child siblings; interparental conflict; sibling dyads; sibling relations; temperament.

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

The authors have declared that no competing interests exist.

Similar articles

See all similar articles

References

    1. Asendorpf, J. B., & Van Aken, M. A. (2003). Personality-relationship transaction in adolescence: Core versus surface personality characteristics. Journal of Personality, 71(4), 629–666. doi:. 10.1111/1467-6494.7104005 - DOI - PubMed
    1. Bandura, A. (1973). Aggression: A social learning analysis. Oxford, United Kingdom: Prentice Hall.
    1. Bandura, A. (2001). Social cognitive theory: An agentic perspective. Annual Review of Psychology, 52, 1–26. doi:. 10.1146/annurev.psych.52.1.1 - DOI - PubMed
    1. Barbaranelli, C., Caprara, G. V., & Rabasca, A. (2006). BFQ-NA. Cuestionario "big five" de personalidad para niños y adolescentes. Manual [BFQ-NA: "Big Five" personality questionnaire for children and adolescentes. Manual]. Madrid, Spain: TEA Ediciones.
    1. Barbaranelli, C., Caprara, G. V., Rabasca, A., & Pastorelli, C. (2003). A questionnaire for measuring the Big Five in late childhood. Personality and Individual Differences, 34(4), 645–664. doi:. 10.1016/S0191-8869(02)00051-X - DOI

LinkOut - more resources