Journal: Journal of Youth and Adolescence
Article: College Students’ Relationship with Siblings
When a college student goes to college their relationship with their siblings changes, according to new research.
In adulthood, siblings’ relationships with each other become less problematic than in childhood.
This is likely due to the majority of college students becoming independent for the first time.
Some siblings go as far as becoming a source of physical and emotional support for each other.
Later in adulthood previous studies have shown that the relationship mimics the relationship when the adults were children in a less problematic way.
In this study, 275 students were analyzed via an in-person questionnaire.
In some situations participants were not included in research when they came from families with more than four siblings.
There were 47 students in the study that had more than four siblings.
In this study 98 percent of students that participated indicated that they were caucasian.
Of that 98 percent there were 23 percent who considered themselves caucasian.
Previous studies on this topic were not adequate and did not include enough variables to account for different upbringings.
One of the questions asked how often students discussed problems with their siblings.
The study found that students who were raised by both biological parents had better communication with their siblings since the age of eight.
Out of all of the students recorded the majority of them reported being raised in two parent households at 86 percent.
Siblings in the same group also stated they received greater influence from their siblings.
Middle born children typically communicated with their younger siblings than their older siblings.
Likewise, the youngest of the siblings typically said they felt the closest with the middle sibling rather than the oldest.
As expected the older the sibling the higher the influence among other siblings.
This was likely due to the oldest sibling likely having to babysit the other siblings while still being a child themselves.
This lack of development likely caused the oldest sibling to take a more authoritarian approach to taking care of their siblings and that sentiment likely sustained into adulthood.
When families were bigger siblings typically reported being less close with each other.
However, over time siblings from larger families would grow closer during their time at college.
Firstborn siblings are the least liked out of all siblings and were the most private compared to their other siblings.
Subjects typically found that their relationships with their siblings have improved over time.
It was also found that females were more likely to initiate communication with siblings than males.
Females generally discussed more with their siblings than males.
Siblings being of the same sex did not have an effect on communication.
It has also been found that not all siblings maintain contact equally.
Students that were married and lived far from home saw their siblings as much as siblings living at home.
Siblings that were single and lived away from home did not see their siblings as much as siblings that lived at home or married.
In general, those students who considered themselves ethnic felt less parental approval likely due to cultural differences.
College typically brought siblings closer together to various degrees depending on many variables.
Link to Journal Entry:
https://link-springer-com.libaccess.sjlibrary.org/content/pdf/10.1007/BF01537366.pdf
Antonio Carrillo 100W 