Sibling Relationships and Influences in Childhood and Adolescence

TLDR

Sibling relationships are fundamental to family structure and dynamics but have been understudied by family scholars and close‑relationship researchers. The study aims to integrate sibling research into family studies to yield new insights into family functioning as social systems. The authors conduct a literature review of sibling relationships in childhood and adolescence, tracing foundational themes and recent empirical work over the past two decades. The review shows that siblings are central to family life, their relationship quality varies, and they significantly influence child and adolescent development through frequent, emotionally intense interactions and their role in family system dynamics.

Abstract

The authors review the literature on sibling relationships in childhood and adolescence, starting by tracing themes from foundational research and theory and then focusing on empirical research during the past 2 decades. This literature documents siblings' centrality in family life, sources of variation in sibling relationship qualities, and the significance of siblings for child and adolescent development and adjustment. Sibling influences emerge not only in the context of siblings' frequent and often emotionally intense interactions but also by virtue of siblings' role in larger family system dynamics. Although siblings are building blocks of family structure and key players in family dynamics, their role has been relatively neglected by family scholars and by those who study close relationships. Incorporating study of siblings into family research provides novel insights into the operation of families as social and socializing systems.