The Role of the Mother in Sibling Interaction

CORTER, CARL; ABRAMOVITCH, RONA; and PEPLER, DEBRA J. The Role of the Mother in Sibling Interaction. CHILD DEVELOPMENT, 1983, 54, 1599-1605. In a longitudinal study of sibling interaction, 28 pairs of same-sex siblings and 28 pairs of mixed-sex siblings were observed for 2 1-hour periods in their homes. The younger siblings averaged 38 months of age, and the age interval between siblings was either large (2.5-4 years) or small (1-2 years). The focus of the observations was on the role of the mother in sibling interaction, and mother-child interactions were observed in addition to interactions between siblings. Mothers were free to come and go, and their entrances and exits were noted and timed. There were no consistent effects of the age or sex of the children or of the interval between siblings on mother-child interaction. In addition, mothers were quite consistent in their treatment of their 2 children regardless of their age or sex. However, there was more consistency in the positive treatment of same-sex pairs than in mixed-sex pairs. Mother's presence reduced the overall level of sibling interaction, and sibling interaction tended to be relatively more agonistic when mother was present than when she was absent.