SIBLING RELATIONSHIPS FROM THE PRESCHOOL PERIOD THROUGH MIDDLE CHILDHOOD AND EARLY ADOLESCENCE

Stability and correlates of individual differences in children's relat ionships with their siblings between early childhood and adolescence w ere studied in 39 sibling dyads, using home observations and maternal interviews in the early childhood period and interviews with mothers a nd children at the later time points. Stability of individual differen ces found over the 7 years increased with age. The behavior of the oth er sibling in the preschool period related to both older and younger s iblings' behavior at the last time point. Life events were associated with increased warmth between the children. By preadolescence, gender and socioeconomic status (SES) were related to differences in the rela tionship. Multiple regression showed that preschool measures of siblin g interaction contributed independently of gender and SES to the varia nce in individual differences in positive aspects of the relationship at early adolescence.