Taking the Temperature: Associations between Sibling Relationship Warmth and Reports of Daily Interactions in Preadolescence

Although most children grow up with siblings, this relationship is greatly understudied compared to other relationships in a child’s life. While much research has focused on sibling conflict, warmth is also important to understanding how to foster a positive relationship. Different positive aspects of the sibling relationship can include disclosure, teaching and learning, prosocial behaviors (e.g., comforting and helping), companionship (e.g., spending free time together) and positive emotionality. This study examined how these features, as well as negative features such as fighting and negative emotionality, in daily sibling interactions were related to warmth. Daily diaries completed by 33 preadolescent children (M = 11.5 years; 14 girls) were analyzed. Analyses assessed both between- and within-person patterns. Results indicated that positive emotionality in daily interactions was most closely related to warmth. Furthermore, on days in which siblings reported more negative interactions, they also reported fewer positive interactions. Finally, when children reported a positive behavior towards their sibling on a given day, their sibling was reported to reciprocally engage in similar types of behavior. However, warmth did not significantly moderate either (a) the link between positive and negative daily interactions or (b) daily patterns of reciprocity in the sibling relationship. The results of this study may ultimately inform interventions aimed at fostering warmth in the relationship as well as guide parents on how to help their children develop a warm and positive relationship between their children