Siblings Can Ease Pain of Family Conflict

In this study, researchers interviewed children from 236 families and found that teens who had good relationships with their siblings experienced less distress when answering questions about observed parental disagreements. Study co-author Dr. Meredith Martin writes, “We showed that having a good relationship with a brother or sister reduced heightened vulnerability for youth exposed to conflicts between their parents by decreasing their tendencies to experience distress in response to later disagreements between their parents.” Child Development, June 2018