A Family Stress Approach to Understanding Sibling Relationships Following Parental Divorce

ABSTRACT

This study utilized family stress theory to examine whether sibling closeness differed between young adults with married (n = 193) and divorced (n = 113) parents; if sibling closeness differed before and after divorce; and whether levels of sibling support and experiential discrepancy was related to sibling closeness following parental divorce. Research questions and hypotheses were tested using t-tests and three-step hierarchical regression analysis. No differences were found between pre-divorce and post-divorce closeness or between the two samples. Support seeking and support seeking success were significantly related to post-divorce closeness. The implications of the results and future directions will be discussed.

KEYWORDS:

• Sibling closeness
• parental divorce
• experiential discrepancy
• support

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).