Life Course Statuses and Sibling Relationship Quality during Emerging Adulthood

Citation

Aldrich, Lindsey; Nomaguchi, Kei; & Fettro, Marshal Neal (2021). Life Course Statuses and Sibling Relationship Quality during Emerging Adulthood. Journal of Family Issues.

Abstract

Using the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent to Adult Health (N=1,366), we examine how major life course statuses are related to sibling relationships during emerging adulthood with attention to similarities and differences in these statuses between sibling dyads. We find that full-time employment, marriage/cohabitation, and parenthood are related to more distant sibling relationships, whereas college education is related to closer sibling relationships. Similarities in employment between the siblings are related to closer relationships, but differences in education, marriage/cohabitation, and parenthood are related to closer relationships, in that respondents report more help-seeking and emotional closeness with their siblings who have higher education than theirs; unpartnered respondents report more calls and fewer fights with their partnered siblings; and childless respondents report more visits and emotional closeness with their parenting siblings. Examining both ones and ones siblings life course statuses is important in understanding life course variations in sibling relationships.

URL

https://doi.org/10.1177/0192513X211022401

Keyword(s)

emerging adulthood

Reference Type

Journal Article

Journal Title

Journal of Family Issues

Author(s)

Aldrich, Lindsey
Nomaguchi, Kei
Fettro, Marshal Neal

Year Published

2021

DOI

10.1177/0192513X211022401

Reference ID

9429