Similarities and Differences in Adolescent Siblings' Alcohol-Related Attitudes, Use, and Delinquency: Evidence for Convergent and Divergent Influence Processes

• NCJ Number: 246665
• Journal: Journal of Youth and Adolescence Volume: 43 Issue: 5 Dated: May 2014 Pages: 687-697
• Author(s): Shawn D. Whiteman; Alexander C. Jensen; Jennifer L. Maggs
• Date Published: May 2014
• Length: 11 pages
• Grant Number(s): R21-AA017490
• Sponsoring Agency: US Dept of Health and Human Services
• Publication Format: Article
• Publication Type: Report (Study/Research)
• Language: English
• Country: United States of America

Annotation

This study examined the operation and implications of three different influence processessocial learning, shared friends, and sibling differentiationduring adolescence.

Abstract

A growing body of research indicates that siblings influence each other's risky and deviant behaviors during adolescence. Guided by research and theory on sibling similarities and differences, this study examined the operation and implications of three different influence processessocial learning, shared friends, and sibling differentiationduring adolescence. Participants included 1 parent and 2 adolescent siblings (earlier born age: M = 17.17 years, SD = 0.94; later born age: M = 14.52 years, SD = 1.27) from 326 families. Data were collected via telephone interviews. Using reports from both older and younger siblings, two-stage cluster analyses revealed three influence profiles: mutual modeling and shared friends, younger sibling admiration, and differentiation. Additional analyses revealed that mutual modeling and shared friends as well as younger sibling admiration were linked to similarities in brothers' and sisters' health-risk behaviors and attitudes, whereas differentiation processes were associated with divergence in siblings' characteristics. The discussion focuses on refining the study of sibling influence, with particular attention paid to the operation and implications of both convergent and divergent influence processes. Abstract published by arrangement with Springer.