SIBLING RELATIONSHIP QUALITY - ITS CAUSES AND CONSEQUENCES

Current work on children's individual characteristics and family proce sses that contribute to variation in sibling relationship quality is r eviewed. Findings from these studies are summarized in a heuristic mod el that specifies hypothesized links among family processes, intrapers onal characteristics, and variations in sibling relationship quality. The model is designed to provide researchers with a host of hypotheses to test and refine in future studies. The contributions that sibling relationships may make to cognitive and psychosocial development are t hen reviewed, with a suggestion that sibling relationships comprised o f a balance of both prosocial and conflicted interactions create exper iences that are most likely to nurture children's social, cognitive, a nd psychosocial development.