Long Talks with Mom and Sibling Solidarity

• In Event: 1283 - Section on the Sociology of the Family Refereed Roundtable Session
  In Refereed Roundtable 60min: Table 15. Violence and Distress

Abstract

This research investigates the way in which sibling solidarity can be encouraged by the child’s perceived quality of parent-child conversation. Using data from the Fragile Families and Child Well-Being Study, I use ordered logistic regression models to investigate the relationship between children’s conversation quality with their fathers and mothers and the likelihood that they reach out to their distressed siblings. I find that fathers and mothers’ conversation quality produce different outcomes. Children who report communicating with their mothers extremely well are most likely to comfort their distressed siblings. Father-child conversation quality is also significantly associated with sibling solidarity, but this relationship is non-linear. I theorize and discuss these surprising gender differences and identify implications for family life.

Author

• Kayla Danielle Russell Pierce, University of Notre Dame