Brothers, Sisters and Fictive Kin

Abstract

Siblings have been shown to influence youth substance use and violent behavior. However, limited research has examined sibling-influences on sexual activity, particularly among urban Black youth. The current qualitative research was an exploratory study to describe discussions among siblings about sex and sexual health. Individual interviews were conducted with 15 Black youth (7 male, 8 female) from New York City ages 16 to 19 years. Participants were recruited from community agencies serving low income youth. Results indicated that youth had discussions about sex with their siblings. Discussions among siblings included information about sex, conversations about sexual activities and advice about sexual relationships. Some gender differences were observed. Males reported feeling pressure from their male siblings to be engaged in sexual activity. Female youth discussed hearing HIV/AIDS prevention messages from their siblings. Findings highlight the important role that siblings may play in socializing urban Black youth regarding sexuality, sexual health, and HIV/AIDS prevention.

A Larger Ecology of Family Sexuality Communication: Extended Family Perspectives on Relationships, Sexual Orientation, and Positive Aspects of Sex

“…The high frequency of siblings' reported talk with teens about sexual orientation fits with prior research that shows siblings as a key source of family support for teens' talk about sexual orientation [18,19] and LGBTQ teens' disclosures about coming out [20,21]. It may be that the combination of a peer-like relationship with teens [5,23] and close family connections make siblings feel like a safe resource to discuss topics which teens may experience as taboo to share with other family members. The lower frequency of discussion about protection methods and teen pregnancy for siblings, when compared to non-siblings, suggests that non-sibling family members may act in a similar way to parents in addressing traditional topics related to avoiding risky sexual behavior.…”

“…We define an extended family to include the larger family context of non-parental sexuality communication: grandparents, uncles, aunts, older cousins and siblings. We include siblings as extended family because studies show that siblings play more of a peer role in talking with teens about sex than parents do [5,23] and teens' communication about sex is similar with siblings and cousins [5,22]. However, since the research suggests that siblings play a unique and important role in teens' sexuality communication [24,25], we include a preliminary assessment of whether sibling participants talk with teens about topics related to sex and relationships compared to non-sibling participants.…”

Adolescent Girls’ Disclosure About Dating and Sexuality

“…In one study examining sibling communication about sex and adolescents' sexual outcomes, authors found that adolescents' self-reported communication with siblings about safe sex (when coupled with parents' communication about safe sex) was associated with adolescents' greater condom use self-efficacy (Kowal & Blinn-Pike, 2004). Other studies revealed that communication with siblings about dating and sexuality is a way for adolescents to receive advice about dating and sexuality from their siblings (Killoren & Roach, 2014;Wallace et al, 2014), which is also shown in studies about adolescents' communication with friends (Boislard & Poulin, 2011). We anticipated that disclosure to sisters, similar to disclosure to friends, about dating and sex would be associated with greater intentions for sex and less conservative sexual attitudes.…”

Diferencias entre hombres y mujeres en el significado psicológico de las prácticas de socialización sexual fraternas

“…Este proceso es multidimensional y participan diversos agentes, por ejemplo, padres (Kincaid, Jones, Sterrett, & McKee, 2012), maestros (Shtarkshall et al, 2007), amigos (Fontenberry, 2013) y medios de comunicación (Ugarte, Högberga, Valladaresc, & Esséna, 2013). Existe evidencia empírica que documenta que los hermanos también fungen como agentes de socialización sexual (Wallace, Hooper, & Persad, 2014;Widmer, 1997) y la descripción de las interacciones fraternas y mecanismos de influencia sobre el comportamiento, podrían proporcionar información complementaria sobre el proceso de socialización sexual familiar (McHale et al, 2012).…”

“…En la literatura existe evidencia de estas interacciones; por ejemplo, en las relaciones que tienen como propósito la "protección", Wallace, et al (2014) documentaron cómo los hermanos mayores muestran disposición para asesorar sobre cómo reducir riesgos en las relaciones sexuales, lo cual implicaría una acción dirigida a que sus hermanos menores puedan responder exitosamente a una situación de riesgo. Respecto a las interacciones basadas en el "aprendizaje guiado", Coleman-Minahan y Scandlyn (2015) describieron que los hermanos mayores brindan consejos y comparten sus experiencias sexuales, lo cual probabilizó el uso del condón en sus hermanos menores.…”