Parents' Social Comparisons of Siblings and Youth Problem Behavior: A Moderated Mediation Model.

Parents compare their children to one another; those comparisons may have implications for the way mothers and fathers treat their children, as well as their children's behavior. Data were collected annually for three years with parents, firstborns, and secondborns from 385 families (Time 1 age: firstborns, 15.71, SD = 1.07, 52% female; secondborns, 13.18, SD = 1.29, 50% female). Parents' beliefs that one child was better behaved predicted differences in siblings' reports of parent-child conflict. Additionally, for siblings close in age, mothers' comparisons at Time 1 predicted youth's problem behavior at Time 3 through siblings' differential conflict with mothers. The results support and extend tenets from Social Comparison and Expectancy Value theories in regards to social comparison within families.

Why Can't I Be More Like My Brother? The Role and Correlates of Sibling Social Comparison Orientation.

Siblings play an important role in relational and individual development throughout adolescence and beyond through several mechanisms. Central to this role and the mechanisms of sibling influence is the notion that siblings provide a constant and meaningful frame of reference for social comparison. This study examined the role of sibling social comparison orientation, or the tendency of siblings to compare themselves to one another, on youths' depressive symptoms and family relationships, both directly and by moderating links with parental differential treatment. Participants included 338 youth (M age = 18.34, SD = 1.03; 52 % female). Using hierarchical ordinary least squares regression, we found that a higher sibling social comparison orientation was linked with more depressive symptoms, warmer sibling relationships, and more sibling conflict. Additionally, sibling social comparison orientation moderated links of parental differential treatment with depressive symptoms and prosocial behavior toward family members such that effects were more salient for those with a high comparison orientation. The discussion focuses on the role of sibling comparison in the ways that siblings influence one another's development.