Sibling influences on adolescent alcohol use during the spring 2020 COVID-19 pandemic shutdown.

OBJECTIVE: To examine the bidirectional associations between adolescent siblings' alcohol use before and during the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic in Spring 2020 and whether youths' stress about missed social connections (i.e., social disruption stress) moderated these associations. METHOD: The sample consisted of 682 families (2,046 participants) with two adolescent siblings (older siblings: Mage = 15.67 years, 51% female; younger siblings: Mage = 13.14 years, 48% female) and one parent (Mage = 45.15 years; 85% female) from five Midwestern U.S. states. Siblings reported on their own drinking and social disruption stress before and during the onset of the pandemic via online surveys. RESULTS: Accounting for younger siblings' earlier drinking and other confounders, older siblings' prepandemic drinking predicted a greater likelihood of younger siblings' drinking during the Spring 2020 pandemic shutdown. This association was not moderated by younger siblings' social disruption stress. The association between younger siblings' prepandemic drinking and older siblings' drinking during the shutdown was moderated by older siblings' social disruption stress. Specifically, younger siblings' earlier drinking was more strongly related to older siblings' drinking during the shutdown if older siblings reported more social disruption stress. CONCLUSIONS: Siblings are important socialization agents of alcohol use during adolescence. Sibling interventions may be particularly salient during times of stress and isolation when youths' social interactions with peers may be limited. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2023 APA, all rights reserved).

Direct and Indirect Effects of Maternal and Sibling Intimacy on Adolescents' Volunteering via Social Responsibility Values: A Longitudinal Study.

This study investigates the direct and indirect effects of maternal and sibling relational intimacy on adolescents' volunteering behaviors via their social responsibility values. Participants included two adolescents (50% female; M age = 14 years) and one parent (85% female; M age = 45 years) from 682 families (N = 2,046) from an ongoing longitudinal study. Adolescents self-reported their intimacy with mothers and siblings (Time 1), social responsibility values (Time 1), and volunteering (Times 1 and 2); parents reported on sociodemographic characteristics (i.e., gender, birth order, family income). Results from a structural equation model indicated that after accounting for adolescents' earlier volunteering, both maternal and sibling intimacy were indirectly related to greater volunteering via social responsibility values. There were no significant direct effects from maternal or sibling intimacy to adolescents' volunteering. Results indicate that both mothers and siblings are important in socializing prosocial and civic values and behaviors during adolescence.

Changes in family chaos and family relationships during the COVID-19 pandemic: Evidence from a longitudinal study.

The purpose of this article was to explore how family chaos, parenting processes, parent-child relationship qualities, and sibling relationship qualities changed before versus the early months of the COVID-19 pandemic. Participants included one parent and two adolescent-aged children from 682 families (2,046 participants). Parents and youth participating in an ongoing longitudinal study in five Midwestern states in the United States completed an additional web-based assessment of family processes and family relationship qualities during the May-June 2020 pandemic-related shutdowns. A series of two-wave latent change score models indicated that family chaos increased with the onset of pandemic-related shutdowns and that the level of chaos within a family during the shutdowns had implications for changes in several parenting processes and family relationship qualities. Specifically, higher levels of family chaos during the pandemic mitigated observed increases in parental knowledge and were associated with declines in parental autonomy granting. Family chaos during pandemic-related shutdowns also was associated with increases in maternal-child conflict, paternal-child conflict, and sibling conflict as well as decreases in paternal-child intimacy, sibling intimacy, and sibling disclosure. Overall, consistent with a family stress perspective, the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic was associated with increased strain and commotion within many households, and these changes had implications for multiple family relationships. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2021 APA, all rights reserved).

Parents Who First Allowed Adolescents to Drink Alcohol in a Family Context During Spring 2020 COVID-19 Emergency Shutdowns.

PURPOSE: COVID-19 stay-at-home orders during Spring 2020 dramatically changed daily life and created significant challenges for families. We document levels and predictors of U.S. parents who newly allowed adolescents to drink alcohol at home during the shutdown. METHODS: Participants in an ongoing longitudinal study were two adolescent siblings (N = 911, M = 14.43, SD = 1.54 years) and one parent (N = 456; 85% mothers) who provided self-report data before the pandemic (T1) and during the shutdown. RESULTS: No parents permitted adolescent drinking with family at T1; nearly one in six allowed it during the shutdown. In full models, adolescents who previously drank (without permission) and had light or heavy drinking parents were more likely to be newly permitted to drink. CONCLUSIONS: Parents' alcohol permissibility within family contexts changed during the pandemic and was shaped by both parent and adolescent drinking. Well-child visits should continue adolescent alcohol screening and parent support during and after the pandemic.

Parental Differential Treatment of Siblings and Adolescents' Health-Related Behaviors: The Moderating Role of Personality.

Youth who receive comparatively poorer parental treatment than a sibling are at risk for maladaptive behaviors in a variety of domains, but research has yet to examine links with adolescents' health-related behaviors nor consider how those links may vary based on adolescents' personality traits, namely conscientiousness and agreeableness. Two siblings (n = 590 adolescents; 53% female; Mage = 15.86, SD = 1.73) from 295 families reported on their differential conflict and closeness with their fathers and mothers as well as on their personality, sleep habits, exercise habits, and general health habits. Multilevel modeling revealed that, generally, the less conscientious adolescents had better health habits when they had comparatively warmer relationships with their mothers. Less conscientiousness adolescents may be less distressed by inequality in the family, and thus may experience positive effects of relatively better treatment.