Sibling and pet relationships: links with adversity and adjustment in pre-adolescence

Figures & data

Table 1. Descriptive statistics and inter-correlations between study variables.

	1.	2.	3.	4.	5.	6.	7.	8.	9.
1. Gender	–
2. Adversity	−0.09	–
3. Mother Rel	−0.36**	−0.14	–
4. Pet Pos	−0.19	0.25*	0.11	–
5. Sib Pos	−0.37**	−0.13	0.37**	0.15	–
6. T1 Diff	0.26*	0.36**	−0.37**	0.00	−0.42***	–
7. T1 Pro	−0.52***	0.09	0.39**	0.40***	0.38**	−0.39**	–
8. T2 Diff	0.19	0.58***	−0.41**	.10	−0.49***	.79***	−0.32*	–
9. T2 Pro	−0.40**	−0.02	0.45***	0.39**	0.35**	−0.36**	0.80***	−0.35**	–
M	–	0.00	3.23	3.17	2.98	9.05	7.44	8.67	7.36
SD	–	0.58	0.44	0.83	0.91	5.98	2.27	6.45	2.13
Min	–	−0.80	2.00	1.00	1.00	1.00	1.00	0.00	3.00
Max	–	2.20	4.00	5.00	4.89	25.00	10.00	29.00	10.00

Note. Gender: 0 = girls, 1 = boys; Mother Rel.: mother-child relationship quality; Pet Pos: pet positivity; Sib Pos: sibling positivity; Diff: total difficulties; Pro: prosocial behavior. ^†p < .10; * p < .05; ** p < .01; *** p < .001.

Figure 1. Estimated marginal means from repeated-measures ANOVA examining the effect of gender, adversity, and relationship type (pet or siblings) on reported relationship quality. Note. *p < .05.

Table 2. Hierarchical regression models predicting mothers’ reports of total difficulties on the SDQ at Time 1 and Time 2.

		T1 SDQ Difficulties			T2 SDQ Difficulties
		B	SE	ß	B	SE	ß
Step 1	Gender	2.47	1.38	0.21^†	0.51	1.21	0.04
	T1 Adversity	3.45	1.31	0.29*	3.12	1.20	0.24*
	T1 Mother Relationship	−3.29	1.57	−0.24*	−0.94	1.49	−0.06
	T1 SDQ Difficulties	–	–	–	0.70	0.10	0.65***
Step 2	Gender	1.87	1.38	0.16	0.27	1.15	0.02
	T1 Adversity	3.06	1.26	0.26**	2.93	1.17	0.22*
	T1 Mother Relationship	−2.40	1.55	−0.18	−0.31	1.44	−0.02
	T1 SDQ Difficulties	–	–	–	0.60	0.10	0.56***
	T1 Sibling Positivity	−2.24	0.77	−0.33**	−1.99	0.65	−0.27**
	T1 Pet Positivity	1.06	0.84	0.14	1.03	0.68	0.13
Step 3	Gender	2.03	1.41	0.17	0.49	1.11	0.04
	T1 Adversity	3.03	1.28	0.25*	2.67	1.12	0.20*
	T1 Mother Relationship	−2.46	1.59	−0.18	−0.58	1.42	−0.04
	T1 SDQ Difficulties	–	–	–	0.57	0.10	0.53***
	T1 Sibling Positivity	−1.74	1.09	−0.26*	−0.69	0.81	−0.09
	T1 Pet Positivity	0.22	1.48	0.03	−0.21	1.16	−0.03
	Adversity x Sibling Positivity	−0.80	1.24	−0.08	−2.87	1.13	−0.26*
	Adversity x Pet Positivity	1.20	1.92	0.13	2.01	1.45	0.20

Note. Time 1 model: Adjusted R² = .20*** for Step 1; ΔR² = .09* for Step 2; ΔR² = .01 for Step 3. Time 2 model: Adjusted R² = .64*** for Step 1; ΔR² = .05* for Step 2; ΔR² = .03* for Step 3. ^†p < .10; *p < .05; ** p < .01; ***p < .001.

Figure 2. Sibling positivity buffers the negative impact of adversity on adjustment problems.

Figure 3. Pet positivity is associated with prosocial behavior in low adversity.

Table 3. Hierarchical regression models predicting mothers’ reports of prosocial behavior on the SDQ at Time 1 and Time 2.

		T1 SDQ Prosocial			T2 SDQ Prosocial
		B	SE	ß	B	SE	ß
Step 1	Gender	−1.88	0.49	−0.41***	0.06	0.42	0.01
	T1 Adversity	0.47	0.47	0.10	−0.07	0.35	−0.02
	T1 Mother Relationship	1.35	0.56	0.26*	0.84	0.48	0.17^†
	T1 SDQ Prosocial Behavior	–	–	–	0.69	0.09	0.74***
Step 2	Gender	−1.50	0.49	−0.33**	0.08	0.43	0.02
	T1 Adversity	.33	0.45	0.07	−0.03	0.38	−0.01
	T1 Mother Relationship	1.03	0.56	0.20^†	0.79	0.50	0.16
	T1 SDQ Prosocial Behavior	–	–	–	0.68	0.10	0.73***
	T1 Sibling Positivity	0.35	.28	0.14	0.12	0.23	0.05
	T1 Pet Positivity	0.64	0.30	0.22*	−0.06	0.25	−0.02
Step 3	Gender	−1.73	0.48	−0.38***	0.15	0.45	0.04
	T1 Adversity	.36	0.44	0.08	−0.07	0.39	−0.02
	T1 Mother Relationship	1.18	0.54	0.23*	0.66	0.53	0.13
	T1 SDQ Prosocial Behavior	–	–	–	0.71	0.11	0.77***
	T1 Sibling Positivity	−0.18	0.37	−0.07	0.17	0.30	0.07
	T1 Pet Positivity	1.84	0.54	0.63**	−0.40	0.50	−0.15
	Adversity x Sibling Positivity	0.72	0.51	0.19	−0.05	0.44	−0.01
	Adversity x Pet Positivity	−1.72	0.66	−0.49*	0.46	0.59	0.14

Note. Time 1 model: Adjusted R² = .30*** for Step 1; ΔR² = .07* for Step 2; ΔR² = .06* for Step 3. Time 2 model: Adjusted R² = .64*** for Step 1; ΔR² = .00 for Step 2; ΔR² = .00 for Step 3. ^†p < .10; *p < .05; ** p < .01; ***p < .001.

Data availability statement

Data are available on request from the authors.