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 Researchers found that feelings of insecurity and other
psychological problems stemming from regular exposure to family
conflict were common in seventh-graders who had low-quality bonds
with their siblings. With close sibling bonds, kids were less likely
to experience these effects later in their teenage years.
"Close and warm sibling relationships can help offset the distress
that many kids experience following repeated exposure to
interparental conflict," lead author Patrick T. Davies, a psychology
researcher at the University of Rochester in New York, said in a
phone interview.
"Their bond can help offset psychological problems by reducing their
stress reaction to the conflict," he said.
Davies noted that not all children exposed to high levels of
parental conflict develop problems. Most kids develop along "normal
trajectories," he said.
That's why more research is turning to examining the factors that
give some kids the resilience to get through traumatic situations,
the study team writes in Child Development.
Davies' team collected data between 2007 and 2011 on 236 families of
middle-school students in the Northeast and Midwest who had at least
one sibling that wasn't a twin. The families were middle class,
three quarters of them identified as white, and most households
included both biological parents, with a small percentage including
a step-parent or guardian.
Researchers focused on the seventh-graders' relationship with the
sibling closest to them in age, and on average, these siblings were
about three years younger or older. The seventh-graders' average age
at the first assessment was 12.5 years, and they were assessed again
at ages 13 and 14 years
Conflict between parents and the nature of the relationships among
siblings were gauged through laboratory visits and interviews with
the parents and children. The seventh-graders' emotional insecurity
due to their parent's volatile relationship was assessed through a
specialized questionnaire, and other psychological and behavioral
problems were reported by their teachers and mothers.
The researchers found that adolescents who witnessed conflict
between their parents had greater distressed responses to conflicts
a year later, and greater distressed responses, in turn, predicted
mental health problems in the subsequent year. However, teens who
had close sibling bonds did not suffer subsequent mental health
problems.
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"The thing about siblings is they both witness the event together
and can bond, commiserate and distract each other from the
conflict," said Jonathan Caspi, a family therapist and professor in
the department of family science and human development at Montclair
State University in New Jersey, who wasn't involved in the study.
"Support in the moment can be critical," Caspi said in a phone
interview, adding that the study offers family therapists "a really
clear and good direction on how to help children experiencing high
conflict homes or parents divorcing. Building sibling relationships
can be a better strategy than providing emotional support for
siblings going through family crises."
"We should be paying more attention to siblings when mom and dad are
in conflict," said Kiaundra Jackson, a licensed family and marriage
therapist in Los Angeles, who wasn't involved in the study. "Kids
are very intuitive. They understand what's going on and feel the
negative energy when there are arguments."
Jackson said in a phone interview that she hopes "the impact of the
study will be that we pay more attention to sibling dynamics so no
matter what the trauma they experience they will be able to rely on
one another if things get difficult."
Since the study findings were limited to certain cultural and
socioeconomic groups, Davies noted, "We have to exercise caution in
extending these findings to other populations and samples. It
definitely needs to be replicated and tested for generalizability."
He added that he doesn't think an only child is necessarily more or
less at risk of developing emotional problems from a home filled
with conflict compared to a similar home with multiple siblings.
"An only child probably has other sources of resilience and
protective factors to offset the lack of a sibling," he said.
SOURCE: https://bit.ly/2ltdqG9 Child Development, online June 19,
2018.
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