Parental Differential Treatment and Sibling Relationship in Chinese Second-Born Children: Trait Empathy and Sibling Empathy Matter

Following the abolition of China’s one-child policy and the rise of multi-child families, sibling relationships in Chinese households have emerged as a critical area of study. This study examines the correlation between parental differential treatment and sibling relationships, and investigates whether trait empathy and sibling empathy mediate this relationship among Chinese second-born children. Data were collected from 353 second-born children (aged 3–6 years; 53.30% male, 46.70% female; M age = 56.76 months, SD = 10.46) from Chinese two-child families, who completed situational story-based self-reports, while their mothers completed questionnaires. The results showed that parental differential treatment and sibling relationship were mediated by trait empathy and sibling empathy in both parallel and sequential ways. These findings advance our understanding of how parental differential treatment shapes sibling relationships, offering insights to improve sibling dynamics in Chinese two-child families.