Family Emotional Climate and Sibling Relationship Quality: Influences on Behavioral Problems and Adaptation in Preschool-Aged Children |
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Authors: | Kerri L Modry-Mandell Wendy C Gamble Angela R Taylor |
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Institution: | (1) Norton School of Family and Consumer Sciences, Division of Family Studies and Human Development, The University of Arizona, P.O. Box 210033, Tucson, AZ 85721-0033, USA |
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Abstract: | We examined the impact of family emotional climate and sibling relationship quality on behavioral problems and adaptation
in preschool-aged children. Participants were 63 mothers with a preschool-aged child enrolled in a Southern Arizona Head Start
Program. Siblings were identified as children closest in age to target child. Mothers of predominantly Mexican descent (95%)
participated in home interviews during the Fall and Spring of the year children entered center-based programs. Sibling relationship
quality (warmth, agonism/competition) was proposed to predict children’s adjustment (behavioral problems and adaptation) longitudinally.
Results indicate that after controlling for child characteristics (temperament, child gender, birth order) and after accounting
for family characteristics (family emotional expressiveness, child exposure to interparental conflict, and parental agreement
on childrearing), sibling warmth made a significant and unique contribution to child adjustment as reported by mothers and
teachers six months later. Findings are consistent with existing research indicating that sibling relationships impact children’s
adjustment and shape young children’s lives in meaningful and marked ways. Moreover, these associations were found with an
understudied sample of young children of predominantly Mexican descent in low-income families, and thus make an important
contribution to knowledge in the field. |
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Keywords: | Sibling relationship quality Family emotional expressiveness Child exposure to interparental conflict Parental agreement on childrearing Child adjustment |
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