By Carol Church, Writer, Family Album

Reviewed by Suzanna Smith, PhD, Department of Family, Youth, and Community Sciences, University of Florida

This post is in honor of Siblings’ Day–celebrated today, April 10.

Brothers and sisters live together, play together, and share years of memories. While they’re often loving and supportive to one another, they can also fight like cats and dogs. Parents may wonder how this important but sometimes high-conflict relationship is likely to affect their children.

In fact, evidence suggests that siblings have a unique and important role to play in children’s development. Recent research in the Journal of Family Psychology reinforces this theme. Researchers surveyed close to 400 diverse families, asking children ages 10 to 14 and their parents about the children’s well-being and their relationships with their brothers and sisters. Then they followed up with them a year later.

The results showed that having an affectionate sibling relationship, particularly with a sister, protected children from feeling sad and unloved, as well as from getting involved in problem behaviors like lying, cheating, or stealing. Having a strong sibling relationship also made children more likely to be helpful to others. In fact, having a close relationship with a brother or sister increased children’s helping behavior more significantly than having a close relationship with their parents.

Hostility between siblings, on the other hand, seemed to lead to increases in depression and low self-esteem. Fortunately, good relationships seemed to have bigger effects on kids than relationships that were problematic.

As this research shows, brothers and sisters are more than playmates—they can also serve as peers and role models, giving children the opportunity to learn more about others and themselves.

(Image credit: UF/IFAS file photo.)

Further Reading

Sibling Rivalry –From UF/IFAS EDIS

Understanding Sibling Relationships–From Hillsborough County Extension

How Can Parents Nurture the Bond Between Siblings? –From Family Album

References:

Padilla-Walker, L. M., Harper, J. M., & Jensen, A. C. (2010). Self-regulation as a mediator between sibling relationship quality and early adolescents’ positive and negative outcomes. Journal of Family Psychology, 24(4), 419-428. http://dx.doi.org/10.1037/a0020387

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