Family relationships and emotional reciprocity in adolescent /young adult sisters.

In the present study, the role of adolescent/young adult sibling emotional reciprocity was examined as a mediator in the link between perceived parent-child relationship quality and perceived sibling relationship quality. The conceptual model used in the present study is based on the work of Brody (1998) and Lindsey, MacKinnon-Lewis, Campbell, Frabutt, and Lamb (2002) in accordance with attachment and social learning theories. Sixty same-sex female sibling pairs between the ages of 16 and 24 completed the Parental Bonding Instrument (Parker, Tupling, & Brown, 1979), the Sibling Relationship Questionnaire (Furman & Buhrmester, 1985b), and narrative prompts addressing emotion within their sibling relationship. Videotaped observations of sibling interaction were coded for emotional reciprocity. Using multiple regression procedures, path analyses were conducted to examine the linkages between parent-child relationship, sibling emotional reciprocity, and sibling relationship quality as outlined in the conceptual model. For both older and younger sisters, links were found between parent-child relationship variables and sibling emotional reciprocity variables. For older sisters, their ratings of the mother-child and father-child relationships predicted their positive emotional reciprocity with their younger sisters. However, for younger sisters, their ratings of their mother-child relationship predicted their negative emotional reciprocity with their older sisters. Furthermore, for both older and younger sisters, emotional reciprocity was found to predict quality of sibling relationship, such that positive emotional reciprocity predicted ratings of sibling warmth and negative emotional reciprocity predicted ratings of sibling conflict. Narrative descriptions of emotion within the sibling relationship suggest that participants are largely aware of their sisters’ emotions, feel that their sisters are similarly aware of their emotions, share with their Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. sisters in positive emotions, increase relational interactions around positive emotions, and desire an increase in meaningful and positive interactions and a reduction in negative interaction within the sibling relationship. Implications of the study findings are discussed with respect to the importance of the sibling relationship across the lifespan. In summary, this research provides broader insight into the late adolescent/young adult sister relationship and emotional exchanges among late adolescent/young adult sister pairs through both quantitative and qualitative means. Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS This study would not have been such a success without the encouragement and assistance of a number of important people. First, I would like to recognize and thank my advisor, Dr. Julie Hakim-Larson, for her warm guidance and strong support. Her creativity and vision motivated me through the early stages of the project, her enthusiasm, direction, and flexibility helped me persevere through the middle, and her approval and acknowledgment provided a meaningful ending to this long and arduous task. I feel fortunate to have had Julie as a mentor throughout my graduate career. I would also like to thank the members of my committee, Dr. Sylvia Voelker, Dr. Roseanne Menna, Dr. Rosemary Cassano, and Dr. Laurie Kramer. Their ideas and constructive feedback have made a significant contribution to this project and my learning experience throughout. In addition, I would like to express my appreciation to the sisters who participated in this study. Their enthusiasm, sincerity, and candor made data collection enjoyable and provided depth and complexity to the study. Furthermore, I am very appreciative of the financial support I received from the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada (SSHRC) throughout the duration of this project. Finally, I would like to thank my family and friends. This project could not have been completed without their love, support, encouragement, and humour. Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission.