11/15/00

Contacts:
Katherine Conger, Institute of Social and Behavioral Research, (515) 294-3306
Barbara McManus, Ag Communications, (515) 294-0707

SIBLINGS CAN PLAY POSITIVE ROLE IN STRESSED FAMILIES

AMES, Iowa -- Older brothers and sisters help their younger siblings overcome poor parenting during stressful economic times, according to Iowa State University research.

Katherine Conger, a researcher with ISU's Institute for Social and Behavior Research, said the Iowa Youth and Families Project was started during the 1980s farm crisis to study the effects of economic changes on families. The project involved hundreds of families in northern Iowa.

One aspect of the research focused on how siblings interact when families have problems and how parenting skills are affected. Parents distracted by economic concerns are more likely to treat their children in a hostile and inconsistent manner, Conger said.

Conger found that seventh graders were buffered from some of the effects of poor parenting if they had a supportive relationship with an older sibling. Older siblings can provide advice based on their experience and they are an important sounding board for adolescent concerns, Conger said.

"These siblings talked about how important it was to talk to a brother or sister about dating, smoking or school because mom and dad often didn't have time and didn't understand," she said.

On the other hand, a younger adolescent who had a hostile relationship with an older brother or sister was more likely to have low self-esteem and increased depression as a response to negative parenting.

The study also revealed the importance of communication and problem-solving within families. Conger said children are aware of economic problems even when parents don't talk about them. "There are indicators," Conger said. "There are fewer shopping trips or one of the parents takes a second job. The children can see there is a problem and parents need to talk about it."

The study involved interviews, surveys and videotaped interactions with adolescents, siblings and their parents over a 10-year period. The study began in 1989 with 451 two-parent families. In 1991 researchers added 200 single-mother families with similarly aged children. The institute has received funding from the National Institute of Mental Health to continue these studies for another five years.

Research on sibling relationships, especially during adolescence, has been limited. Conger said this study is helping fill in research gaps to better understand the importance of the lifelong relationships of siblings.

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