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Marital Conflict and Differential Treatment of Siblings
Author(s) -
DEAL JAMES E.
Publication year - 1996
Publication title -
family process
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.011
H-Index - 74
eISSN - 1545-5300
pISSN - 0014-7370
DOI - 10.1111/j.1545-5300.1996.00333.x
Subject(s) - differential treatment , sibling , differential (mechanical device) , psychology , developmental psychology , differential effects , marital relationship , family conflict , medicine , international trade , engineering , business , aerospace engineering
Sibling differential experience of the family environment has recently come to the forefront of both the family and the developmental literatures. One hypothesized determinant of such treatment is marital conflict. The present report used structural family therapy as a theoretical framework to examine the relation between marital conflict and differential treatment of siblings in a sample of married couples with preschool and elementary‐school children. The results did find a significant, though modest, relation between marital conflict and differential treatment, suggesting that positive marital communication in an environment of mutual respect serves to lower the rate of differential treatment of siblings within the family.