Longitudinal Linkages Between Sibling Conflict and Relationship Quality in Youth

Abstract

Introduction. This study aims explore the association between sibling conflict and relationship quality during early to middle adolescence longitudinally. Our second aim was to investigate a possible moderation effect of gender constellation. Method. For this study, data from the RADAR project was used, which included 426 Dutch target adolescents from 13 till 15 years of age. A cross-lagged panel model was used to study the linkages between both constructs. Results. We found that sibling conflict and relationship quality showed stability over time. Conflict and relationship quality were found to be related within waves. However, no cross-lagged effects were found, indicating that changes in conflict or relationship quality at one point in time did not predict changes in one another later on. Conclusion. In contrary to previous research, no cross-lagged or moderation effects were found. We encourage future research to extent this study by enhancing the operationalization and measurements.