Implications of COVID-19 school closures for sibling dynamics among U.S. Latinx children: A prospective, daily diary study.

This study aimed to illuminate the implications of COVID-19 school closures for sibling dynamics among Latinx school-age children in the U.S. and to examine family and cultural factors that may have conditioned school closure effects. Data came from an ongoing study of Latinx families in Arizona that collected home visit and survey data prepandemic (fall 2019; T1) and daily diary data during the outbreak (February to May 2020; T2). The analyses focused on 215 Latinx children (47% female; Mage = 9.72, SD = 1.22; 88% Mexican-origin) from 116 families (T1 family income median = $27,600, SD = $24,421). Multilevel tobit regression models were estimated to examine associations linking both T2 school closure and number of days since school closure with daily sibling positivity and negativity. The models also tested moderation effects of T1 family socioeconomic status, sibship size, child enculturation, and prior sibling positivity and negativity on these associations. Results showed that, although main effects of school closure on sibling dynamics were nonsignificant, school closure was linked to more sibling positivity in families with more children and among more enculturated children, and days since school closure was linked to more sibling positivity in families with more children and to lower sibling negativity among those with less prepandemic sibling negativity. Findings highlight differentiated effects of COVID-19 school closures on sibling dynamics among Latinx children whose families have been disproportionally affected by the COVID-19 pandemic, illuminate the role of Latinx family cultural strengths, and have implications for intervention programs and public policies. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2021 APA, all rights reserved).

Longitudinal Associations Between Sibling Relational Aggression and Adolescent Adjustment.

Sibling relational aggression is an important but understudied dimension of sibling relationships that has potential implications for adolescents' adjustment. This study examined the longitudinal associations between being the target of sibling relational aggression and adolescent adjustment (i.e., depressive symptoms, risky behavior, self-worth, and romantic competence) among younger and older siblings over a three-year period in adolescence. The moderating roles of birth order, sibling gender, and sibling dyad gender constellation also were tested. Participants were 196 European American adolescent (firstborn-secondborn) sibling pairs who were 16.47 years (SD = 0.80) and 13.88 years (SD = 1.15) of age, respectively, at the onset of this study. Data were collected separately from each sibling during home interviews. Multilevel models revealed that being the target of sibling relational aggression was associated with all four adjustment outcomes at the between-person level, and with risky behavior and romantic competence at the within-person level. However, some of these effects were moderated by sibling dyad characteristics. Although often overlooked in the literature on adolescence, sibling relationship dynamics play a key role in youth development and adjustment.

On the Association Between Self-Reported Own- and Other-Gender Similarity and the Use of Physical and Relational Aggression in Sixth Grade Children.

The goal was to assess the association between felt similarity to each gender (an aspect of gender identity) and girls' and boys' differential use of relational versus physical aggression. We extend past research on gender differences in the use of aggression by expanding the gender dichotomy and allowing for more variations in an individual's gender identity. Students (N = 414, 47 % female, 6th grade) reported how similar they felt to both their own- and other-gender peers, from which cluster analyses derived four typologies of perceived gender similarity (those who feel similar to their own-gender group; those who feel similar to the other-gender group; those who feel similar to both gender groups; those who feel similar to neither gender group). Peers reported which classmates were relationally and physically aggressive. Analyses compared how girls and boys in each typology of gender similarity differed in their use of relational and physical aggression. Results indicated that most children were engaged in gender normative aggression more than gender non-normative aggression (with the notable exception of low-gender similar girls). Findings were discussed in terms of their importance both for examining a broad spectrum of gender similarity and for understanding the use of aggressive behavior among children.