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Situational affect and temperament: Implications for sibling caregiving
Author(s) -
Volling Brenda L.,
Herrera Carla,
Poris Michelle P.
Publication year - 2004
Publication title -
infant and child development
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.87
H-Index - 57
eISSN - 1522-7219
pISSN - 1522-7227
DOI - 10.1002/icd.360
Subject(s) - temperament , psychology , sibling , situational ethics , developmental psychology , anger , distress , affect (linguistics) , personality , clinical psychology , social psychology , communication
The caregiving behaviour of 60 preschool‐age children ( M=50 months) toward their 16‐month‐old younger siblings was observed during a brief separation from their parents. Sibling caregiving was more strongly associated with parent ratings of both the older siblings' and toddlers' temperament than with the younger siblings' distress exhibited during the separation. The older siblings' social fear was positively related to providing care, whereas their temperamental activity level was negatively related to caregiving. Younger siblings' temperamental anger and soothability were positively associated with receiving care from an older sibling. Relations with temperament were independent of both children's distress levels during the separation, and in several instances, dispositional affective measures (i.e. temperament) made stronger contributions to the prediction of sibling caregiving than did situational distress. Copyright © 2004 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.