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High Risk Behaviors Among Victims of Sibling Violence

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Abstract

Despite the fact that sibling abuse has been documented as the most common form of intrafamilial abuse, it has been largely overlooked. Using data from the 2007 Delaware Secondary School Student Survey (N = 8,122), this paper focuses on four objectives: to estimate prevalence of sibling abuse, examine the relationship between sibling violence and high risk behaviors such as substance use, delinquency and aggression, explore the interplay of sibling abuse and other forms of family violence in predicting high risk behaviors, and test theory. Results suggest that sibling violence occurs more frequently than other forms of child abuse. Results also confirm that sibling violence is significantly related to substance use, delinquency, and aggression. These effects remain significant after controlling for other forms of family violence. The data suggest support for feminist theory and social learning theory.

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Notes

  1. Analyses were conducted by grade level are not reported. Grade level indicates respondents’ age. Results for grade level are consistent with results for age level.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Center for Drug & Alcohol Studies, University of Delaware, Newark, DE, 19716, USA

    Deeanna M. Button & Roberta Gealt

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  1. Deeanna M. Button
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  2. Roberta Gealt
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Correspondence to Deeanna M. Button.

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Button, D.M., Gealt, R. High Risk Behaviors Among Victims of Sibling Violence. J Fam Viol 25, 131–140 (2010). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10896-009-9276-x

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10896-009-9276-x

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