How the Differential Treatment of Siblings Is Linked With Parent-Child Relationship Quality

Little is currently known about the significance of parents' unequal treatment of siblings and their relationships with their children; for example, are high levels of differential treatment consistently indicative of poorer parent-child relationships? Associations among differential parenting...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Journal of family psychology 2004-12, Vol.18 (4), p.658-665
Main Authors: Kowal, Amanda K, Krull, Jennifer L, Kramer, Laurie
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Adolescent Attitudes
Adolescents
Adult
Biological and medical sciences
Child
Child, Preschool
Couple and family
Favouritism
Female
Fundamental and applied biological sciences. Psychology
Human
Humans
Injustice
Male
Multilevel models
Parent Child Relations
Parent-Child relationships
Parental Attitudes
Parental Characteristics
Parenting - psychology
Parents & parenting
Perceptions
Personal relationships
Psychology. Psychoanalysis. Psychiatry
Psychology. Psychophysiology
Relationship Quality
Siblings
Social psychology
Surveys and Questionnaires
USA
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Summary:Little is currently known about the significance of parents' unequal treatment of siblings and their relationships with their children; for example, are high levels of differential treatment consistently indicative of poorer parent-child relationships? Associations among differential parenting practices, perceptions of the fairness of these practices, and parent-child relationship quality were assessed from the perspectives of adolescent siblings and their parents in 74 maritally intact families. Multilevel random coefficient modeling revealed that the magnitude of differential treatment was associated with more negative parent-child relationships only when adolescents perceived differential treatment to be unfair. Differential treatment judged to be fair is not linked with negative parent-child relationships. Results highlight the importance of examining all family members' viewpoints about the legitimacy of differential treatment and of encouraging family members to discuss their understanding of these events.
ISSN:0893-3200
1939-1293
DOI:10.1037/0893-3200.18.4.658