NCJ Number
140605
Journal
American Journal of Family Therapy Volume: 20 Issue: 4 Dated: (Winter 1992) Pages: 310-324
Date Published
1992
Length
15 pages
Annotation
This study examined the relationship between sibling position in the family and social interaction during two problem-solving tasks.
Abstract
The subjects consisted of 20 pairs of adults between the ages of 18 and 23; each pair contained a second- and fourthborn child in a family containing at least five children. The families in the sample were all white and middle-class with parents' marriages intact. The Relationship Communication Coding System was used to analyze the interaction between subjects in each pair. The system categories used here included question, nonsupport, instruction, assertion, support, and extension. The findings indicated a significant relationship between sibling position and interactional behavior, with the secondborns making more responses coded as assertions and the fourthborns making more responses coded as questions. These findings could be used to design experiments to study nonshared environments within families. 35 references