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Congruence between Mothers' and Fathers' Differential Treatment of Siblings: Links with Family Relations and Children's Well‐Being
Author(s) -
McHale Susan M.,
Crouter Ann C.,
McGuire Shirley A.,
Updegraff Kimberly A.
Publication year - 1995
Publication title -
child development
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 3.103
H-Index - 257
eISSN - 1467-8624
pISSN - 0009-3920
DOI - 10.1111/j.1467-8624.1995.tb00859.x
Subject(s) - firstborn , sibling , psychology , differential treatment , developmental psychology , affection , birth order , differential (mechanical device) , demography , social psychology , population , sociology , international trade , business , engineering , aerospace engineering
We studied patterns of mothers' and fathers' differential treatment of firstborn (average age 10.5 years) and secondborn (average age 8 years) school‐age siblings, and we examined the links between parents' differential treatment and children's well‐being and dyadic family relationships. Mothers, fathers, and both siblings in 110 families were interviewed in their homes. For each dimension of parental behavior that we assessed (i.e., differential affection and discipline) we created groups of families that reflected mothers’ and fathers' levels of differential treatment (e.g., discipline the firstborn more, equal treatment, discipline the secondborn more). Although we detected substantial correspondence between the 2 parents' differential treatment, we found a sizable group of families in which parents' reports were incongruent (i.e., 1 parent reported equal and the other differential treatment). Parental patterns were linked to differences between the siblings' well‐being and both sibling and parent‐child relationships, with younger siblings exhibiting greater vulnerability to differential treatment. Incongruence in differential warmth was associated with marital distress.