Hostname: page-component-8448b6f56d-m8qmq Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-04-17T12:27:34.925Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Maternal differential treatment of siblings and children's behavioral problems: A longitudinal study

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  04 March 2009

Shirley McGuire ,
Judy Dunn  and
Robert Plomin
Shirley McGuire*
Affiliation:
University of California, San Diego
Judy Dunn
Affiliation:
The Pennsylvania State University
Robert Plomin
Affiliation:
The Pennsylvania State University
*
S. McGuire, Department of Psychology, University of California, San Diego, CA 92093–0109.
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

Researchers have examined links between maternal differential treatment of siblings and children's adjustment; however, little is known about the longitudinal nature of these associations. The goal of this study was to examine the relationship between maternal differential treatment of the siblings, direct parenting of older siblings, and older siblings' behavior problems across middle childhood. Eighty-two families were interviewed twice in their homes when the siblings averaged 4.7 and 7.7 years of age and, again when they averaged 7.9 and 10.5 years of age. Mothers completed questionnaires about parenting and older siblings' adjustment during the summer after the older siblings' 7th and 11th birthdays. Teachers completed questionnaires about the older siblings' adjustment and returned them through the mail. There was significant stability in the mothers' reports of differential treatment and significant associations between mothers' reports of maternal differential discipline and differential attention and mothers' and teachers' reports of older siblings' externalizing problems across time. Direct parenting measures were not correlated with differential treatment or older siblings' behavior problems across time.

Type
Articles
Information
Development and Psychopathology , Volume 7 , Issue 3 , Summer 1995 , pp. 515 - 528
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 1995

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Achenbach, T. M. (1991a). Manual for the Child Behavior Checklist 14–18 and 1991 Profile. Burlington: University of Vermont, Department of Psychiatry.Google Scholar
Achenbach, T. M. (1991b). Manual for the Teacher's Report Form and 1991 Profile. Burlington: University of Vermont, Department of Psychiatry.Google Scholar
Achenbach, T. M., & Edelbrock, C. (1981). Behavioral problems and competencies reported by parents of normal and disturbed children aged four to sixteen. Monographs of the Society for Research in Child Development, 46 (1, Serial No. 188).CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Achenbach, T. M., Howell, C. T., Quay, H. C., & Conners, C. K. (1991). National survey of problems and competencies among four- to six-year olds. Monographs of the Society for Research in Child Development, 56 (3, Serial No. 225).CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Achenbach, T. M., McConaughy, S. H., & Howell, C. T. (1987). Child/adolescent behavioral and emotional problems: Implications of cross-informant correlations for situational specificity. Psychological Bulletin, 101, 213–232.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Anderson, K. E., Lytton, H., & Romney, D. M. (1986). Mothers' interactions with normal and conduct-disordered boys: Who affects whom. Developmental Psychology, 22, 604–609.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Angold, A., Weissman, M. M., John, K., Merikangas, K. R., Prusoff, B. A., Wickramaratne, P., Gammon, G. D., & Warner, V. (1987). Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry, 28, 901–915.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Baumrind, D. (1993). The average expectable environment is not good enough: A response to Scarr. Child Development, 64, 1299–1317.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Bell, R. Q. (1968). A reinterpretation of the direction of effects in studies of socialization. Psychological Review, 75, 81–95.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Boer, F. (1990). Sibling relationships in middle childhood. Leiden, Netherlands: DSWO Press, University of Leiden.Google Scholar
Brody, G. H., Stoneman, Z., & McCoy, J. K. (1992). Associations of maternal and paternal direct and differential behavior with sibling relationships: Contemporaneous and longitudinal analyses. Child Development, 63, 82–92.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Brodzinsky, D. M. (1987). Adjustment to adoption: A psychosocial perspective. Clinical Psychology Review, 7, 25–47.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Brodzinsky, D. M., Radice, C., Huffman, L., & Merkler, R. (1987). Prevalence of clinically significant symptomatology in a nonclinical sample of adopted and nonadopted children. Journal of Clinical Child Psychology, 16, 350–356.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Bryant, B., & Crockenberg, S. (1980). Correlates and discussion of prosocial behavior: A study of female siblings with their mothers. Child Development, 51, 529–544.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Campbell, S. B. (1989). Developmental perspectives. In Ollendick, T. H. & Hersen, M. (Eds.), Handbook of child psychopathology (2nd Ed., pp. 5–28). New York: Plenum Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Campbell, S. B. (1991). Longitudinal studies of active and aggressive preschoolers: Individual differences in early behavior and in outcome. In Cicchetti, D. & Toth, S. L. (Eds.), Internalizing and externalizing expressions of dysfunction: Rochester symposium on developmental psychopathology (Vol. 2, pp. 57–90). Hillsdale, NJ: Erlbaum.Google Scholar
Campbell, S. B., Pierce, E. W., March, C. L., & Ewing, L. J. (1991). Noncompliant behavior, overactivity, and family stress as predictors of negative maternal control with preschool children. Development and Psychopathology, 3, 175–190.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Cicchetti, D., & Toth, S. L. (1991). A developmental perspective on internalizing and externalizing disorders. In Cicchetti, D. & Toth, S. L. (Eds.), Internalizing and externalizing expressions of dysfunction: Rochester symposium on developmental psychopathology (Vol. 2, pp. 1–20). Hillsdale, NJ: Erlbaum.Google Scholar
Conger, K. J., & Conger, R. D. (1994). Differential parenting and change in sibling differences in delinquency. Journal of Family Psychology, 8, 287–302.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
DeFries, J. C., Plomin, R., & Fulker, D. W. (1994). Nature & nurture during middle childhood. Cambridge, MA: Blackwell.Google Scholar
Dibble, E., & Cohen, D. (1974). Companion instruments for measuring children's competence and parental style. Archives of General Psychiatry, 30, 805–815.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Dunn, J. (1993). Young children's relationships: Beyond attachment. Newbury Park, CA: Sage.Google Scholar
Dunn, J., & Plomin, R. (1990). Separate lives: Why siblings are so different. New York: Basic Books.Google Scholar
Dunn, J., Slomkowski, C., Beardsall, L., & Rende, R. (1994). Adjustment in middle childhood and early adolescence: Links with earlier and contemporary sibling relationships. Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry, 35, 491–504.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Dunn, J., Stocker, C., & Plomin, R. (1990). Nonshared experiences within the family: Correlates of behavior problems in middle childhood. Development and Psychopathology, 2, 113–126.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Edelbrock, C., Costello, A. J., Dulcan, M., Kalas, R., & Conover, N. C. (1985). Age differences in the reliability of the psychiatric interview of the child. Child Development, 56, 265–275.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Eme, R. E. (1979). Sex differences in childhood psychopathology: A review. Psychological Bulletin, 86, 574–596.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Grecas, V., & Seff, M. (1990). Families and adolescents: A review of the 1980's. Journal of Marriage and the Family, 52, 941–958.Google Scholar
Greenberg, M. T., Kusche, C. A., Speltz, M. (1991). Emotional regulation, self-control, and psychopathology: The role of relationships in early childhood. In Cicchetti, D., & Toth, S. L. (Eds.), Internalizing and externalizing expressions of dysfunction: Rochester symposium on developmental psychopathology (Vol. 2, pp. 21–56). Hillsdale, NJ: Erlbaum.Google Scholar
Greenberg, M. T., & Speltz, M. (1988). Attachment and the ontogeny of conduct problems. In Belsky, J. & Nezworski, T. (Eds.), Clinical applications of attachment (pp. 177–218). Hillsdale, NJ: Erlbaum.Google Scholar
Hetherington, E. M. (1988). Parents, children, and siblings: Six years after divorce. In Hinde, R. A. & Stevenson-Hinde, J. (Eds.), Relationships within families: Mutual influences (pp. 311–331). Oxford: Oxford University Press.Google Scholar
Huesmann, L. R., Lefkowitz, M. M., Eron, L. D., & Walder, L. D. (1984). Stability of aggression over time and generations. Developmental Psychology, 20, 1120–1134.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Jöreskog, K. G., & Sörbom, D. (1993). Lisrel 8 user's reference guide. Chicago, IL: Scientific Software International, Inc.Google Scholar
Kendrick, D. T., & Stingfield, D. O. (1980). Personality traits and the eye of the beholder: Crossing some traditional philosophical boundaries in the search for consistency in all of the people. Psychological Review, 87, 88–104.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Kirk, H. D., Jonassohn, K., & Fish, A. D. (1966). Are adopted children especially vulnerable to stress? Archives of General Psychiatry, 14, 291–298.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Kuczynski, L., Kochanska, G., Radke-Yarrow, M., & Girnius-Brown, O. (1987). A developmental interpretation of young children's noncompliance. Developmental Psychology, 23, 799–806.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Lasko, J. K. (1954). Parent behavior toward first and second-born children. Genetic Psychology Monographs, 49, 97–137.Google Scholar
Lewis, M., Feiring, C., McGuffog, C., & Jaskir, J. (1984). Predicting psychopathology in six year olds from early social relations. Child Development, 55, 123–136.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Lindholm, B. W., & Touliatos, J. (1980). Psychological adjustment of adopted and nonadopted children. Psychological Reports, 46, 307–310.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Loeber, R. (1982). The stability of antisocial and delinquent child behavior: A review. Child Development, 53, 1431–1446.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Loehlin, J. C. (1987). Latent variable models: An introduction to factor, path, and structural analysis. Hillsdale, NJ: Erlbaum.Google Scholar
Lytton, H. (1990). Child and parent effects in boys' conduct disorder: A reinterpretation. Developmental Psychology, 26, 683–697.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Maccoby, E. E. (1984a). Middle childhood in the context of the family. In Collins, W. A. (Eds.), Development during middle childhood: The years six to twelve (pp. 184–239). Washington, DC: National Academy of Science Press.Google Scholar
Maccoby, E. E. (1984b). Socialization and developmental change. Child Development, 55, 317–328.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Mash, E. J., & Johnson, C. (1983). Parental perceptions of child behavior problems, parenting self-esteem, and mothers' reported stress in younger and older hyperactive and normal children. Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, 51, 8699.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
McHale, S. M., & Gamble, W. C. (1989). Sibling relationships of children with disabled and nondisabled brothers and sisters. Developmental Psychology, 25, 421–429.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
McHale, S. M., & Pawletko, T. M. (1992). Differential treatment in two family contexts. Child Development, 63, 68–81.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
McHale, S. M., Crouter, A. C., McGuire, S., & Updegraff, K. A. (1995). Congruence between mothers' and fathers' differential treatment of siblings: Links with family relations and children's well-being. Child Development, 66, 116–128.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
McGuire, S., & Dunn, J. (1994). Nonshared environment in middle childhood. In DeFries, J. C., Plomin, R., & Fulker, D. W. (Eds.), Nature & nurture during middle childhood (pp. 201–213). Cambridge, MA: Blackwell.Google Scholar
Olweus, D. (1980). Familial and temperament determinants of aggressive behavior in adolescent boys: A causal analysis. Development Psychology, 16, 644–660.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Patterson, G. R. (1980). Mothers: The unacknowledged victims. Monographs of the Society for Research in Child Development, 45 (5, Serial No. 186).CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Plomin, R., & Daniels, D. (1987). Why are children in the same family so different from each other? The Behavioral and Brain Sciences, 10, 1–16.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Plomin, R., DeFries, J. C., & Fulker, D. W. (1988). Nature and nurture during infancy and early childhood. New York: Cambridge University Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Rhea, S. A., & Corley, R. P. (1994). Applied issues. In DeFries, J. C., Plomin, R., & Fulker, D. W. (Eds.), Nature & nurture during middle childhood (pp. 295–309). Cambridge, MA: Blackwell.Google Scholar
Robins, L. M. (1991). Conduct disorder. Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry, 32, 193–212.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Scarr, S., & Grajek, S. (1982). Similarities and differences among siblings. In Lamb, M. E. & Sutton-Smith, B. (Eds.), Sibling relationships: Their nature and significance across the lifespan (pp. 357–382). Hillsdale, NJ: Erlbaum.Google Scholar
Speltz, M. L. (1990). Contributions of attachment theory to the treatment of conduct problems. In Greenberg, M. T., Cicchetti, D., & Cummings, M. (Eds.), Attachment in the preschool years: Theory, research, and intervention (pp. 399–426). Chicago, II: University of Chicago Press.Google Scholar
Stipek, D. & MacIver, D. (1989). Developmental change in children's assessment of intellectual competence. Child Development, 60, 521–538.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Stocker, C. (1993). Siblings' adjustment in middle childhood: Links with mother-child relationships. Journal of Applied Developmental Psychology, 14, 485–499.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Stocker, C., Dunn, J., & Plomin, R. (1989). Sibling relationships: Links with child temperament, maternal behavior, and family structure. Child Development, 60, 715–727.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Touliatos, J., & Lindholm, B. W. (1981). Congruence of parents' and teachers' ratings of children's behavior problems. Journal of Abnormal Child Psychology, 9, 347–354.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed