Beyond warmth and conflict: the developmental utility of a boundary conceptualization of sibling relationship processes.

ABSTRACT: Translating relationship boundaries conceptualizations to the study of sibling relationships, this study examined the utility of sibling enmeshment and disengagement in predicting child adjustment difficulties in a sample of 282 mothers and adolescents (mean age=12.7 years). Mothers completed a semistructured interview at the first measurement occasion to assess sibling interaction patterns. Adolescents, mothers, and teachers reported on children's adjustment problems across 2 annual waves of assessment. Supporting the incremental utility of a boundary conceptualization of sibling relationships, results of latent difference score analyses indicated that coder ratings of sibling enmeshment and disengagement uniquely predicted greater adolescent adjustment difficulties even after taking into

SUBMITTER: Bascoe SM 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC3500585 | biostudies-literature | 2012 Nov

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature