Soli, A. R., Mchale, S. M., & Feinberg, E. (2009). Risk and Protective Effects of Sibling Relationships among African American Adolescents. Family Relations, 58(5), 578–592. http://www.jstor.org/stable/40405715

This article introduces Anna R. Soli and Susan McHale, professors in the Department of Human Development and Family Studies at Pennsylvania State University, and Mark E. Feinberg from The Prevention Research Center in University Park, PA. Their goal was to understand and explore how culture, measured in this study in terms of familial values, influences sibling processes. The findings of this study argue that positive sibling relationships, when paired with strong familial values, reduce the risks of maladjustment for African-American adolescents. Furthermore, sibling relational aggression and low familism values increase the risk of poor adjustment for African-American adolescents. While this article doesn’t directly investigate the relationship between siblings, it does shed light on how one’s sibling relationship status influences risk exposure and behavior. These findings are valuable to our project as they identify how sibling relationships interact with risk factors in society. 


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