Patterns and correlates of changes in sibling intimacy and conflict from middle childhood through young adulthood.

ABSTRACT: Sibling relationships are most individuals' longest lasting relationships, but their development remains understudied. Using a within-family, accelerated longitudinal design with data from mothers, fathers, and two siblings from 201 predominately White, working-, and middle-class families, we charted the development of sibling intimacy and conflict from age 7 to age 30. We also examined structural characteristics (sibling sex, sex constellation, age spacing, birth order) and both person mean (between-person) and time-varying (within-person) links between (a) feminine-typed, expressive personality and (b) maternal and paternal warmth and conflict and sibling intimacy and conflict, respectively, and tested whether sibling age moderated these linkages. Overall cubic changes suggested that int

SUBMITTER: McHale SM 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC11910747 | biostudies-literature | 2026 Mar

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature