Sibling interaction from a processual perspectiveand its impact on children’s social development

Subjects: Other Disciplines submitted time 2024-06-20

An Yu Wang Wei Li Bingbing Yang Jingming Ai Siqi Qian Guoying

Abstract： The study consists of two parts with a total of 190 children (95 sibling groups) participating in the experiment. The oldest sibling ranged in age from 7 years old to 4 years old. Younger siblings ranged in age from a maximum of 5 years old to a minimum of 3 years old. In Study 1, we coded and scored the initiating and responding behaviors during sibling interactions through the observation method, which mainly explored the interaction paths between sibling interactions at different points in time and the delineation of the sibling patterns under the processual perspective. In Study 2, we investigated the social development of the participating children, and further explored the effects of the processual sibling interaction pattern on the social development of the siblings. The findings of the study are summarized below:/t/nFirst, Sibling initiation and response behaviours were significantly positively correlated across time and sibling initiation behaviours at the same time significantly predicted each other’s response behaviours. Sibling initiating and responding behaviours were stable across time, and sibling responding behaviours significantly and positively predicted each other’s initiating behaviours at the next time, showing some lag effects./t/nSecond, Based on the intensive sibling interaction behaviour scores in the three times, the sibling interaction patterns can be classified into the friendly interaction pattern, i.e., the initiating and responding behaviours are positive in nature such as helping, praising, and soothing; the neutral sibling interaction pattern, i.e., the initiating and responding behaviours are reminders, verbal exchanges, and other behaviours that are not obviously positive or negative; and the confrontational sibling interaction pattern, i.e., the initiating and responding behaviours are negative in nature such as questioning, blaming, and scrambling./t/nThird, In sibling social development, both older and younger siblings showed significant sibling interaction pattern differences in emotional stability, peer relationships, nonaggression, empathy and helpfulness, and competitiveness and self-esteem. Younger siblings also showed significant sibling interaction pattern differences in observing social rules, living habits, self-concept, independence, and honesty and fairness./t/nThe main innovations of this study are that, firstly, it differs from most existing studies in that all siblings in the family are included in the study, so as to gain a more comprehensive and accurate understanding of the current status of sibling interaction and social development in the family. Secondly, this study uses the cross-lag model to analyse the path of interaction between initiating and responding behaviours in sibling interactions. The data are used to make the process of sibling interaction explicit, instead of just resting on textual descriptions or theories. Finally, this study does not use the traditional scoring method of overall interaction, but rather codes and scores each micro-process to capture the initiation and response of sibling interaction in real time, highlighting the processual character of sibling interaction.

Peer Review Status:Awaiting Review

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