Department of Family Studies, University of New Hampshire, Durham, NH 03824, USA.
Pediatrics. 2013 Jul;132(1):79-84. doi: 10.1542/peds.2012-3801. Epub 2013 Jun 17.
Sibling aggression is common but often dismissed as benign. We examine whether being a victim of various forms of sibling aggression is associated with children's and adolescents' mental health distress. We also contrast the consequences of sibling versus peer aggression for children's and adolescents' mental health.
We analyzed a national probability sample (n = 3599) that included telephone interviews about past year victimizations conducted with youth aged 10 to 17 or an adult caregiver concerning children aged 0 to 9.
Children ages 0 to 9 and youth ages 10 to 17 who experienced sibling aggression in the past year (ie, psychological, property, mild or severe physical assault), reported greater mental health distress. Children ages 0 to 9 showed greater mental health distress than did youth aged 10 to 17 in the case of mild physical assault, but they did not differ for the other types of sibling aggression. Comparison of sibling versus peer aggression generally showed that sibling and peer aggression independently and uniquely predicted worsened mental health.
The possible importance of sibling aggression for children's and adolescents' mental health should not be dismissed. The mobilization to prevent and stop peer victimization and bullying should expand to encompass sibling aggression as well.
兄弟姐妹间的攻击行为很常见，但通常被认为是良性的。我们研究了遭受各种形式的兄弟姐妹攻击是否与儿童和青少年的心理健康困扰有关。我们还对比了兄弟姐妹间的攻击和同伴间的攻击对儿童和青少年心理健康的不同后果。
我们分析了一个全国性的概率样本（n=3599），其中包括对 10 至 17 岁青少年或 0 至 9 岁儿童的成年照顾者进行的关于过去一年受侵害情况的电话访谈。
过去一年经历过兄弟姐妹攻击（即心理、财产、轻度或严重身体攻击）的 0 至 9 岁儿童和 10 至 17 岁青少年报告了更严重的心理健康困扰。在轻度身体攻击的情况下，0 至 9 岁的儿童比 10 至 17 岁的青少年表现出更严重的心理健康困扰，但在其他类型的兄弟姐妹攻击方面，两者没有差异。将兄弟姐妹间的攻击与同伴间的攻击进行比较，结果表明，兄弟姐妹间和同伴间的攻击都会独立且独特地预测心理健康恶化。
不应忽视兄弟姐妹攻击对儿童和青少年心理健康的可能重要性。预防和制止同伴受害和欺凌的动员应该扩大到包括兄弟姐妹间的攻击。
