Socialization, perspective-taking, and the sibling relationship.

Abstract

Examined the relations among (a) the quality of the sibling relationship, (b) maternal socialization techniques about infant's emotions and skills, (c) first-born's perspective-taking skills, and (d) firstborn's caretaking behavior in 32 sibling pairs (14 months; 3-5 years) and their mothers, observed both at home and a modified lab, strange situation. First-borns' references to second-boms about feelings and skills were positively associated with perspective-taking and friendly sibling relations during mothers' presence at home and when alone in the lab, indicating consistent interaction across settings. Maternal references to first-borns about second-borns were positively associated with friendly sibling relations in mothers' presence, whereas maternal interaction was negatively associated with friendly sibling relations in both settings. Results are discussed in light of previous studies.

‘You be the big sister’: Maternal‐preschooler internal state discourse, perspective‐taking, and sibling caretaking

“…Subsequently, Stewart and Marvin (1984) reported a positive association between sibling caretaking and perspective-taking skills, suggesting that the ability to comfort a distressed younger sibling may be associated with the child's understanding of another's feelings. Although Howe and Ross (1990) failed to replicate this finding, they reported significant positive associations between preschooler perspective-taking, internal state language, and friendly sibling interactions. Garner et al (1994) demonstrated that sibling caretaking in a low SES sample was positively predicted by preschoolers' emotional knowledge and expression of positive emotions in the family; specifically, older females were more likely to care for distressed younger siblings and were more knowledgeable about caretaking scripts.…”

“…Dunn et al, 1991b), which has also been positively associated with children's social understanding (e.g. Dunn et al, 1991a;Howe and Ross, 1990;Howe, 1991). Although some studies have examined only mental state (e.g.…”

“…Although internal state discourse has been studied during on-going family interaction (e.g. Howe and Ross, 1990), it has not been thoroughly addressed in the contexts of maternal separation and sibling caretaking. This question forms the point of departure for our discussion.…”

Mother–Child Conflict in the Toddler Years: Lessons in Emotion, Morality, and Relationships

“…Researchers have found links between preschool children's emotional understanding and their mothers' expressions of emotion, as well as their mothers' positive and negative responses to the children's own expressions of emotion (Denham, Zoller, & Couchoud 1994). In addition, the frequency with which mothers discuss emotions (and causality) with children has been linked with children's subsequent use of emotional language and their subsequent levels of emotional understanding (Brown & Dunn, 1996;Denham & Auerbach, 1995;Dunn, Brown, & Beardsall, 1991;Howe, 1990). Thus, whether mothers choose to discuss emotion during conflict, openly express emotion during conflict, and respond to their children's expression of emotion during conflict, likely impacts children's subsequent development of emotional understanding.…”

Measuring the quality of the sibling relationship during middle childhood: The psychometric properties of the Sibling Relationship Inventory

“…Several studies have recently argued that these effects largely depend on the quality of the relationship (Lockwood, Kitzmann, & Cohen, 2001) and on the way that siblings judge their relationship (Stormshack, Bellanti, & Bierman, 1996;Woolfe, Want, & Siegal, 2003). That is, those children who have a positive relationship with their sibling show greater understanding of other people's feelings and beliefs (Dunn, Brown, Slomkowski, Tesla, & Youngblade, 1991;Howe & Ross, 1990) and higher social adjustment Updegraff, McHale, & Crouter, 2002). By contrast, a conflictual sibling relationship seems to foster aggressive behaviour (Garcia, Shaw, Winslow, & Yaggi, 2000).…”