Category: Site Bibliography

​​Whiteman S. D., Jensen A. C., Maggs J. L. (2013). Similarities in adolescent siblings’ substance use: Testing competing pathways of influence. Journal of Studies on Alcohol and Drugs, 74, 104–113. doi:10.15288/jsad.2013.74.104 

This article introduces Shawn Whiteman, a professor from the Department of Human Development and Family Studies at Purdue University, and Jennifer Maggs, a professor in the College of Health and Human Development at Penn State University. This study informs us of the role of siblings in their younger brother’s and sister’s decisions to engage with substances. Furthermore, the study concludes that the substance use of younger siblings was also influenced by sharing friends with their older siblings who used substances. This article can also assist in the curation of questions surrounding behaviors that siblings may have picked up from each other. If participants are comfortable with sharing their substance use, it would also be interesting to see when and how they started these behaviors. 

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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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Skinner, Olivenne D., and Susan M. McHale. 2022. “Context Matters: Longitudinal Associations between Marital Relationships and Sibling Relationships in Black Families.” Family Relations 71(3):987-1003. doi: https://doi.org/10.1111/fare.12658. 

This article introduces Olivenne D. Skinner, a professor in the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences at Wayne State University, and Susan McHale, a professor in the Department of Human Development and Family Studies at Pennsylvania State University. This study investigates associations between marital relationships and sibling relationships in Black families while also considering economic influences. The findings suggest that marital satisfaction positively impacts sibling relationships, while marital conflict can have varying effects. Furthermore, when families experience economic strain, there is more likely to be strain placed on sibling relationships as well. This article is important for our project because it illustrates the importance of family structure and stability for sibling relationships. These findings are valuable for our project because they identify two key influences on sibling relationships: parent’s marital relationships and economic stability. Overall, this study not only helps us better understand black sibling relationships but also helps us to create interview questions that address family structure and financial stability.

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Rowan, Zachary R. 2016. “Social Risk Factors of Black and White Adolescents’ Substance use: The Differential Role of Siblings and Best Friends.” Journal of Youth and Adolescence 45(7):1482-1496. doi: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10964-016-0473-7.

This article introduces Zachary Rowan, a professor in the Department of Criminology and Criminal Justice at the University of Maryland. Similar to Whiteman’s article, this study also looks at the connection between substance use and sibling relationships. However, this study differs from Whitemans, as it compares the influence of peer relationships versus sibling relationships on substance use. The findings of this study argue that white youth, compared to Black adolescents, are more likely to be influenced to use substances if they have substance-using friends. On the other hand, sibling substance use, rather than that of a peer, was a strong predictor of Black adolescent’s experimentation with substances. This study is important for our research because it illustrates a way in which Black siblinghood can influence individual sibling behavior. Furthermore, this study evokes many questions about why Black siblings are less susceptible to peer pressure and why their sibling relationship carries more impact. The findings from this study will help us develop interview questions that will allow us to understand the complexity and influence of Black siblinghood. 

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McHale, S. M., Updegraff, K. A., & Whiteman, S. D. (2012). Sibling Relationships and Influences in Childhood and Adolescence. Journal of Marriage and Family, 74(5), 913–930. http://www.jstor.org/stable/41678766

This article introduces Susan McHale, a professor in the Department of Human Development and Family Studies at Pennsylvania State University, Kimberly Updegraff, a professor in the School of Social and Family Dynamics at Arizona State University, and Shawn Whiteman, a professor of Human Development and Family Studies at Purdue University. This study emphasizes the role of siblings as central to the life of the family as members who assist in adolescent development and adjustment and key areas of difference in siblinghood connected to sociocultural factors. While this article does not only talk about African-American families, it will be helpful during the analysis and conversational portion of our documentation process. 

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Brody, G. H., Stoneman, Z., Smith, T., & Gibson, N. M. (1999). Sibling Relationships in Rural African American Families. Journal of Marriage and Family, 61(4), 1046–1057. https://doi.org/10.2307/354023

This article introduces Gene Brody, an American developmental psychologist at the University of Georgia, and Zolinda Stoneman, a professor of human development and family science at the University of Georgia. Together, the authors focus on the sibling relationships in Rural African-American families. This study posits that presently, there is a gap in the literature in understanding the siblinghood of African Americans. Key pieces within this literature point to the benefits African American siblings gain from each other in developmental ways and how parenting styles influence and help to determine sibling relationship quality amongst rural African Americans. This study is important for understanding the value and role of Black siblings and will be helpful in curating questions for our interviews.  

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Borairi, S., Plamondon, A., Rodrigues, M., Sokolovic, N., Perlman, M., & Jenkins, J. (2023). Do siblings influence one another? unpacking processes that occur during sibling conflict. Child Development, 94(1), 110-125. doi:https://doi.org/10.1111/cdev.13842

This article introduces Sahar Borairi, a professor in the Department of Applied Psychology and Human Development at the University of Toronto, and Andre Plamondon, a professor in the Department of Foundations and Practices in Education. Together with their colleagues, they investigated conflict among siblings and how they came to resolution. Furthermore, this study does a great job differentiating the differences in how conflict begins and is resolved through various lenses of older-younger, same-age, and younger-older sibling conflict. This article does not explicitly focus on Black families and has a low representation of Black participants, but it may inform our understanding of our future participants who have delicate or non-existent relationships with their siblings and how they resolved– or didn’t resolve—conflict.

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Boen, Courtney E., Hannah Olson and Hedwig Lee. 2022. “Vicarious Exposure to the Criminal Legal System among Parents and Siblings.” Journal of Marriage and Family 84(5):1446-1468. doi: https://doi.org/10.1111/jomf.12842.

This article introduces Hannah Olson and Courtney E. Boen, professors in the Department of Sociology at the University of Pennsylvania, and Hedwig Lee, a professor in the Department of Sociology at Washington University. This study explores the frequency of vicarious exposure to incarceration among parents and siblings. The findings show that racially minoritized parents and siblings, primarily black parents and siblings, experience more and earlier exposure to the criminal legal system. Although this study does not investigate the relationships between black siblings, it is still of value to our project because it identifies one way that black siblinghood experiences are disproportionately challenged compared to non-black siblinghood experiences. While our interview subjects may not have firsthand experience with the criminal legal system, they might have observed some other ways our society’s structure has negatively impacted

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