To our knowledge, our study is the first longitudinal study to investigate the prospective association
between sibling bullying and the emergence of clinical outcomes in early adulthood.
But these types of comparisons can not only lead to envy and sibling rivalry but also can
cause sibling bullying as well.
However, given that we observe an association over and above the effects of multiple family risk factors, our findings argue for the development of interventions specifically designed to
target sibling bullying.
More
frequent sibling bullying was associated with lower social class and with higher levels of maternal depression during pregnancy.
The children most at risk are victims
of sibling bullying, and those who both become victims and bully their siblings (bully - victims).
People who were involved in
sibling bullying during childhood are up to 3 times more likely to develop psychotic disorders such as schizophrenia in early adulthood.
Almost 3,600 children from the Avon Longitudinal Study of Parents and Children completed a detailed questionnaire on
sibling bullying at twelve years of age, and then subsequently filled out a standardized clinical examination assessing psychotic symptoms when they were eighteen years old.
Because sibling bullying often occurs alongside interparental conflict and in families with poor parent — child relationships, it may be important to integrate siblings into child and family programs.
Using data from > 6000 families from a UK birth cohort, we tested the hypothesis that being the victim
of sibling bullying during childhood is independently associated with an increased risk of depression, anxiety, and self - harm at 18 years.
Led by Professor Dieter Wolke (senior author) at Warwick's Department of Psychology, this is the first study to explore the relationship
between sibling bullying and the development of psychotic disorders.
Just doing the math, that means that about three out of five kids involved
in sibling bullying are both the perpetrator and the victim of bullying.
Even if the bullying is limited to the home,
sibling bullying should be addressed because it has significant consequences.
It also is
sibling bullying.
And remember if one
sibling bullies the other, this does not mean you are a bad parent.
Of the adolescents, 664 were victims of
sibling bullying, 486 children were pure bullies to their siblings and 771 children were bully - victims (victimized by siblings and bullied their siblings), at age twelve.
The researchers found that the more frequently children are involved in
sibling bullying — either as bully, victim, or both — the more likely they are to develop a psychotic disorder.
The researchers conclude that parents and health professionals should be made aware of the long - term mental health consequences that
sibling bullying may have — and that interventions must be developed in order to reduce and even prevent this form of aggression within families.
This study also tests the interaction effects between parent — child relationship quality,
sibling bullying, and friend bullying.
Table 2 shows individual and family characteristics of children as a function of their exposure to
sibling bullying.
There is evidence that high levels of sibling conflict are associated with an increased risk of later internalizing symptoms.9, 14 — 17 To our knowledge, no previous studies have examined whether being the victim of
sibling bullying is prospectively associated with psychiatric diagnoses in young adults.
The association of parent — child relationship quality with life satisfaction is found to be stronger among adolescents who were either victims of
sibling bullying or of friend bullying, highlighting the protective importance of parent — child relationship quality.
Specifically, it tests the associations of three variables with life satisfaction among early adolescents: parent — child relationship quality, being a perpetrator or victim of
sibling bullying, and being a perpetrator or victim of friend bullying.
Existing programs that target the sibling relationship more broadly46, 47 should be systematically evaluated to determine whether they lead to a reduction in
sibling bullying and psychological harm.
Sibling bullying is a specific type of aggressive behavior that is repeated over time, intended both to cause harm and to dominate.4 Several studies have provided evidence of an association between sibling bullying and increased internalizing symptoms.5 — 12 However, most have either been retrospective13 or cross-sectional in design, 5 — 7,10,11 so they do not allow inference of the direction of effects and are susceptible to recall bias.
Our findings are also in line with results of recent meta - analyses suggesting an association between sibling aggression and internalizing symptoms.1, 17 Strengths of our study include the large sample size and extended follow - up, our detailed self - report measure of
sibling bullying, and our ability to adjust for a large number of potential confounders.
Sibling bullying in middle childhood and psychotic disorder at 18 years: a prospective cohort study.
Lastly, when testing whether the influences of
sibling bullying, friend bullying, and parent — child relationship quality vary between male and female adolescents, this study finds some significant gender differences.