Siblings Relationships
Studies documented positive changes in sibling relationships in emerging
adulthood. Participants described these relationships more positively,
reporting more emotional exchanges and less conflict as compared with
the adolescent period (Scharf et al., 2005), greater enjoyment of the
moments together, and they viewed beginning college as a moment marking
more maturity, new experiences, and perspectives on the sibling bond
(Milevsky & Heerwagen, 2013). Siblings were also found to be providers
of social support for each other in this stage, generally reporting high
levels of support (Milevsky et al., 2005). Relying on siblings to
provide immediate help when needed was found the most important function
of support described by participants (Milevsky et al., 2005)
Findings also suggested that these relationships were influenced by
different sociodemographic factors. Same sex sibships were characterized
by more emotional exchanges and higher affective intensity relationships
(Scharf et al., 2005), and female emerging adults were found to promote
warmer sibling relationships (Milevsky et al., 2005). Age-gaps between
siblings were viewed as negative for their relationships by some
participants (Milevsky et al., 2005; Milevsky & Heerwagen, 2013), and
younger emerging adults were more likely to report sibling conflict
(Milevsky et al., 2005). Geographic distance between siblings was
described either as an advantage (Milevsky & Heerwagen, 2013) or as
having a negative effect on their relationships (Milevsky et al., 2005).
Furthermore, support exchanges were affected by: one’s working
situation, with non-employed participants scoring higher in support than
employed ones; sibship length, with emerging adults from larger sibships
scoring lower (Milevsky et al., 2005); and, family structure, with
emerging adults from non-divorced families scoring higher than those
from divorced families (Milevsky, 2004). In addition, parental divorce
appeared to cause tension among sibling relationships (Milevsky &
Heerwagen, 2013), promoting less closeness and less frequent
communication (Milevsky, 2004).