Adolescents' perceptions of relationships with older sibling in the context of other close relationships

This study examines adolescents' perceived relationships with older sibling in the context of adolescent-parent and adolescent-peer relationships. Toward this end, self-report data of 147 11th grade adolescents (60% girls) who listed an older sibling as their closest sibling were analyzed. These analyses indicated that: (a) adolescents' relationships with older siblings were similar to self-reported relationships with mothers, fathers, and peers; (b) a rival hypothesis positing that sibling relationships will be perceived as compensating for low acceptance from parents and peers was not supported by these data; (c) positive sibling relationships contributed to a sense of emotional and school-related support above and beyond the contribution of mother, father, and peer acceptance. Altogether, the findings support the rejection of the compensation hypothesis and the acceptance of the hypothesis regarding the contribution of sibling relationships to adolescents' perceived support. Both findings may be related to the positive relationships that participants of this study have been maintaining with parents and peers.