1 / 28

The multilevel dynamics of sibling relationships: Influences over time

The multilevel dynamics of sibling relationships: Influences over time. Jennifer Jenkins Jon Rasbash Krista Gass Judy Dunn. Background. Quality of sibling relationship important for adjustment Important to identify factors that explain the development of this relationship.

paul
Download Presentation

The multilevel dynamics of sibling relationships: Influences over time

An Image/Link below is provided (as is) to download presentation Download Policy: Content on the Website is provided to you AS IS for your information and personal use and may not be sold / licensed / shared on other websites without getting consent from its author. Content is provided to you AS IS for your information and personal use only. Download presentation by click this link. While downloading, if for some reason you are not able to download a presentation, the publisher may have deleted the file from their server. During download, if you can't get a presentation, the file might be deleted by the publisher.

E N D

Presentation Transcript

  1. The multilevel dynamics of sibling relationships: Influences over time Jennifer Jenkins Jon Rasbash Krista Gass Judy Dunn

  2. Background • Quality of sibling relationship important for adjustment • Important to identify factors that explain the development of this relationship

  3. Influences on relationships • Individual, i.e. aspects of personality • Dyadic combination: unique combination of interactional partners • Family: are dyads similar to one another because of a family influence?

  4. Important methodological considerations • Multi-informant: constrained by child age • Family data is clustered…non-independent • Importance of contextual influences: all previous studies include one sibling dyad per family. This confounds dyad and the family influences.

  5. Shared and child-specific risks are confounded Family A Family Family B Level Child Level Child Child Between Family Comparisons

  6. Predictors Data structure Family A Family B Family level: family average of maternal warmth Dyad1,2 Dyad2,3 Dyad3,1 Dyadic level: age gap, differential parenting Dyad1,2 Dyad2,3 Dyad3,1

  7. Important methodological considerations - contd • Families differ in their structure because of the size of the sibship. Want an analytic technique that is sufficiently flexible that you can include a varying number of children across different families

  8. Sample • ALSPAC (14000) to ABSS (192) • ABSS: 2+ children included, 4-17 years old • All children eligible as targets. 7+eligible as raters • 218 children in 119 families • 65 families had 3 participating children, 54 had two participating children

  9. Variation in family structure across families

  10. Methods • Children and mothers visited in their homes at T1 and T2 (2 years later) • Questionnaires completed by children over 7 years

  11. Measures • Sibling affection and negativity : Children over 7 years old reported about their relationship with their sibling. Could only be S2 or S3. • How often do you share secrets with S1? • How often do you feel mad or angry with S1? • Same questions for S2

  12. Measures • Target age, informant age • Target gender, informant gender • Genetic relationship of dyad: fullsibs, half sibs, unrelated sibs • Maternal negativity: Family average, negativity to target, differential negativity • Maternal depression

  13. Model Cross-classified multilevel model

  14. Cross-classified, multilevel model Rater 2 Rater 3 Family…. Rat2, T1 Rat3, T1 Rat2, T3 Rat3, T2 Target T1 T3 T2 Dyad 1 Dyad 2 Dyad 3

  15. Within family covariance structure: family (f), dyad (d), rater (r), target (t). r2,t1 r3,t1 r3,t2 r2,t3 r2,t1 f, r, t, d r3,t1 f, t f, r, t, d r3,t2 f f, r f, r, t, d r2,t3 f, r f f, d f, r, t, d

  16. Factors that predict change in sibling relationship quality • Individual: gender, age, child-specific parenting • Dyad:bio relatedness, differential parenting • Family: Maternal depression, FA maternal negativity

  17. Influences on sibling relationships

  18. Factors that explain change in sibling negativity

  19. Gender and gender composition of sibling dyad explain change in sibling negativity

  20. Biological relatedness of siblings explains change in sibling negativity

  21. Age and age gap explain change in sibling negativity The younger the target child, more negativity The closer the children are in age, the more the negativity

  22. Factors that explain change in sibling positivity Pos: The higher the maternal positivity directed towards targets, the greater the increase in sibling affection. Diff pos: The more the mother is positive to the informant versus the target, the greater the increase in sibling affection.

  23. Factors that explain change in sibling positivity There is a greater increase in sibling positivity at lower levels of family average positivity. Compensatory? Siblings themselves compensate for low average positivity in the family, by higher warmth and affection with one another? (Jenkins, Smith, & Graham, 1989).

  24. Biological relatedness of siblings explains change in sibling affection

  25. Change in variance components for sibling negativity after entering fixed effects

  26. Conclusions • Sibling hostility is much more about family level processes • Sibling affection is much more dyadic and affected by rater

  27. Conclusions: sibling hostility • Shared family process: maternal depression • Same sex dyads more hostility • Younger targets and closer in age more hostility • Maternal negativity to target and differential

  28. Conclusions: sibling affection • Biological relatedness • Maternal positivity: to target, differential, family average

More Related