Congruity of Parent and Sibling Support: Paternal Relationships as an Internal Working Model1

Statement of the problem The empirical literature on the influence of parent-child relationships on the relationship that a child develops with a sibling is currently inconsistent and often contradictory. From an attachment perspective, the relationship a child develops with a caregiver will be reconstructed in other close relationships (Bowlby, 1973). The early establishment of an internal working model of relationships, based on the degree of responsiveness of a primary caregiver, will influence the expectations of all future relationships. However, other studies have suggested a compensatory pattern in the link between parent-child and sibling relationships. This compensatory pattern emerges when a child who has a negative relationship with a parent develops a close sibling relationship, which serves as a compensation for the negative relationship that the child has with the parent (Bossard & Boll, 1956). The contradictory findings in the current research necessitate further examination of the relationship between parent relations and sibling relations. In addition, most of the studies on sibling support use samples of younger children (Dunn & Kendrick, 1982; Stocker, 1994). Hence, the current study examines the relationship between parent support and sibling support in preadolescence and adolescence. Furthermore, whereas most studies assessing parent and sibling relations use maternal indices, the current study assessed parental support separately to include paternal support in th