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Siblings and Sibling Relationships

Conclusion

Sibling relationships are, in and of themselves, important as children relate to one another and influence the social world in which they grow and develop. The social and psychological skills that children gain through sibling interactions are also useful throughout their lives in a wide variety of other social relationships. Children's personalities can have positive or negative influences on the relationships that they develop with their siblings. Parents can also influence the nature of sibling relationships, both through direct guidance and through the types of relationships that they form with each other and with each of their children.

Bibliography

Brody, Gene H., ed. Sibling Relationships: Their Causes and Consequences. Norwood, NJ: Ablex, 1996.

Brody, Gene H. "Sibling Relationship Quality: Its Causes and Consequences." Annual Review of Psychology 49 (1998):1-24.

Brody, Gene H., Zolinda Stoneman, and J. Kelly McCoy. "Contributions of Family Relationships and Child Temperaments to Longitudinal Variations in Sibling Relationship Quality and Sibling Relationship Styles." Journal of Family Psychology 8 (1994):274-286.

Brody, Gene H., Zolinda Stoneman, and J. Kelly McCoy. "Fore-casting Sibling Relationships in Early Adolescence from Child Temperaments and Family Processes in Middle Childhood." Child Development 65 (1994):771-784.

Bronfenbrenner, Urie. The Ecology of Human Development. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 1979.

Cummings, E. Mark, and Donna Smith. "The Impact of Anger between Adults on Siblings' Emotions and Behavior." Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry 25 (1989):63-74.

Dunn, Judy, and Carol Kendrick. Siblings: Love, Envy, and Understanding. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 1979.

Hetherington, E. Mavis. "Parents, Children, and Siblings Six Years After Divorce." In Robert A. Hinde and Joan Stevenson-Hinde eds., Relationships within Families: Mutual Influences. New York: Oxford University Press, 1988.

Howe, Nina, and Hildy S. Ross. "Socialization, Perspective-Taking, and the Sibling Relationship." Developmental Psychology 26 (1990):160-165.

MacKinnon, Carol E. "An Observational Investigation of Sibling Interactions in Married and Divorced Families." Developmental Psychology 25 (1989):36-44.

Stocker, Clare, Judy Dunn, and Robert Plomin. "Sibling Relationships: Links with Child Temperament, Maternal Behavior, and Family Structure." Child Development 60 (1989):715-727.

Gene H. Brody

Eileen Neubaum-Carlan

Additional topics

Social Issues ReferenceChild Development Reference - Vol 7Siblings and Sibling Relationships - Individual Siblings' Temperaments, Skills That Siblings Learn From One Another, Parents' Guidance And Sibling Conflict