Open AccessConflict Resolution and Emotional Expression in Sibling and Mother-Adolescent Dyads: Within-Family and Across-Context Similarities
Author(s) -
Saskia Ferrar,
Dale M. Stack,
Katrina S. Baldassarre,
Arielle Orsini,
Lisa A. Serbin
Publication year - 2021
Publication title -
journal of early adolescence/the journal of early adolescence
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
eISSN - 1552-5449
pISSN - 0272-4316
DOI - 10.1177/02724316211020360
Subject(s) - psychology , developmental psychology , sibling , affect (linguistics) , context (archaeology) , family conflict , conflict resolution , social psychology , sibling relationship , communication , paleontology , political science , law , biology
Early adolescents (aged 12-15) were observed during dyadic conflict discussions with their siblings ( n = 23) and mothers ( n = 32) in their homes. The verbal conflict behaviors and affect of family members were coded continuously. Sequential analyses identified temporal associations between individuals’ affect and their own and their partners’ verbal conflict behaviors. In addition, within-family and across-context similarities in behavior were examined. Results revealed that while many links between emotion and behavior were consistent with previous research (e.g., attack/assert when frowning/upset, withdraw/concede when sad), several differences emerged depending on the relationship (sibling vs. mother-adolescent) and position in the family (e.g., adolescent vs. mother). Furthermore, many within-family similarities were observed in responses to emotion, while adolescents showed few similarities in their behavior across contexts. Results are discussed in relation to the developmental context of early adolescence and family systems theory.