Whiteman Shawn D, Solmeyer Anna R, McHale Susan M
Department of Human Development and Family Studies, Purdue University, 1202 W. State St., West Lafayette, IN, 47907, USA.
Department of Human Development and Family Studies, The Pennsylvania State University, Beecher-Dock House, University Park, PA, 16802, USA.
J Youth Adolesc. 2015 Nov;44(11):2042-53. doi: 10.1007/s10964-015-0286-0. Epub 2015 Apr 19.
Sibling relationships have been described as love-hate relationships by virtue of their emotional intensity, but we know little about how sibling positivity and negativity operate together to affect youth adjustment. Accordingly, this study charted the course of sibling positivity and negativity from age 10 to 18 in African American sibling dyads and tested whether changes in relationship qualities were linked to changes in adolescents' internalizing and externalizing behaviors. Participants were consecutively-born siblings [at Time 1, older siblings averaged 14.03 (SD = 1.80) years of age, 48 % female; younger siblings averaged 10.39 (SD = 1.07) years of age, 52 % female] and two parents from 189 African American families. Data were collected via annual home interviews for 3 years. A series of multi-level models revealed that sibling positivity and sibling negativity declined across adolescence, with no significant differences by sibling dyad gender constellation. Controlling for age-related changes as well as time-varying parent-adolescent relationship qualities, changes in sibling negativity, but not positivity, were positively related to changes in adolescents' depressive symptoms and risky behaviors. Like parent-adolescent relationships, sibling relationships displayed some distancing across adolescence. Nevertheless, sibling negativity remained a uniquely important relational experience for African American adolescents' adjustment.
由于情感强度，兄弟姐妹关系被描述为爱恨交织的关系，但我们对兄弟姐妹的积极和消极情绪如何共同作用以影响青少年的适应情况知之甚少。因此，本研究描绘了非裔美国兄弟姐妹二人组从10岁到18岁期间兄弟姐妹积极和消极情绪的变化过程，并测试了关系质量的变化是否与青少年内化和外化行为的变化相关。参与者是连续出生的兄弟姐妹（在时间1时，年长的兄弟姐妹平均年龄为14.03岁（标准差=1.80），48%为女性；年幼的兄弟姐妹平均年龄为10.39岁（标准差=1.07），52%为女性）以及来自189个非裔美国家庭的两位家长。通过为期3年的年度家庭访谈收集数据。一系列多层次模型显示，在整个青春期，兄弟姐妹的积极情绪和消极情绪都有所下降，兄弟姐妹二人组的性别组合没有显著差异。在控制了与年龄相关的变化以及随时间变化的亲子关系质量后，兄弟姐妹消极情绪的变化而非积极情绪的变化与青少年抑郁症状和危险行为的变化呈正相关。与亲子关系一样，兄弟姐妹关系在整个青春期也表现出一定程度的疏远。然而，兄弟姐妹间的消极情绪对于非裔美国青少年的适应来说，仍然是一种独特而重要的关系体验。
