14 DAY TRIAL // According to a new scientific study, it would appear that brothers and sisters who engage in sibling rivalry tend to experience deteriorating relationships with each other later on in life. The effect is most commonly seen in adolescent siblings, whose connection tends to suffer considerably, especially in terms of trust. The scientists behind the investigation, based at the University of Missouri, say that they looked at two major types of sibling conflicts during their investigation, LiveScience reports.
Fights about the quality and amount of personal space are the worst, the team says. The study authors reveal that these forms of conflict lead to the most negative effects later on, such as impaired trust and communication between brothers and sisters. “The first conflict area we found includes issues about physical and emotional personal space, such as borrowing items without asking and hanging around when older siblings have friends over,” explains assistant professor Nicole Campione-Barr, who teaches at the UM Department of Psychological Sciences.
The paper the team produced shows that older siblings were far more likely than their younger counterparts to complain about this type of behavior. This stands to reason, given that older adolescents tend to value their privacy and personal space more than young children. “When these issues were present, both younger and older siblings reported less trust and communication. The second conflict area includes equality and fairness issues, such as taking turns and sharing responsibilities. These conflicts had no impact on relationship quality,” the investigator adds.
One possible solution to avoid this kind of conflicts could be for families to set up clear guidelines preventing sibling rivalry from early on in the children's lives. “Parents need to establish and enforce family rules about respecting privacy, personal space and property. However, when sibling conflicts occur, there needs to be negotiations between siblings. Previous research tells us that parents should step aside because they have a tendency to make matters worse,” states Campione-Barr. Details of the new work are published in the latest issue of the respected scientific journal Child Development.