Siblings as buffers: Social problems and internalizing and externalizing behaviors across early adolescence.

= 14.5; 21 females) siblings. Sibling interactions were observed during cooperative and stressful problem-solving tasks, and later coded for expressions of warmth directed from one sibling to the other. Adolescent social problems and internalizing and externalizing behaviors were collected by multi-informant report and at a 1-year follow-up. Multilevel analyses indicated that adolescents with older siblings who exhibited more warmth were buffered against the effect of social problems on externalizing behaviors, with marginal effects for internalizing symptoms. Younger sibling warmth did not serve as a buffer for older sibling maladjustment. These findings emphasize the importance of considering how multiple dimensions of social support operate to influence functioning, particularly early in adolescence. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2021 APA, all rights reserved).