Sibling fights can affect their relationships: Study

“The first conflict area we found includes issues about physical and emotional personal space,such as borrowing items without asking and hanging around when older siblings have friends over,” said Nicole Campione-Barr,a psychology professor at the university.

“When these issues were present,both younger and older siblings reported less trust and communication. The second conflict area includes equality and fairness issues,such as taking turns and sharing responsibilities. These conflicts had no impact on relationship quality.”

For the study,the first such to examine types of sibling conflict between adolescent children,the researchers interviewed and surveyed pairs of siblings,aged between eight and 20.

They focused on sibling relationships among younger children and found that while both younger and older siblings reported personal space conflicts,older siblings reported these conflicts more frequently.

The findings,published in journal Child Development,suggested that older siblings are more sensitive to personal space issues and may indicate the beginning of their separation from the family.

According to the researchers,the new research could help parents,psychologists and other individuals who work with teens understand the impact that conflicts can have on sibling relationships.

For parents,Campione-Barr suggested setting up family boundaries to reduce sibling conflicts about personal space.

“Parents need to establish and enforce family rules about respecting privacy,personal space and property,” Campione-Barr said.

“However,when sibling conflicts occur,there needs to be negotiations between siblings. Previous research tells us that parents should step aside because they have a tendency to make matters worse.”