Almost 80% of youth in the United States have a sibling.
Siblings spend considerable more time together than they do apart or with friends and peers (Baxter, 2018).
From Childhood,
to Adolescence,
Rogers, C. R., Guyer, A. E., Nishina, A., & Conger, K. J. (2018). Developmental change in sibling support and school commitment across adolescence. Journal of Research on Adolescence, 28, 858–874. https://doi.org/10.1111/jora.12370
Young adulthood,
Midlife-older age,
and Later life.
Conflict in sibling relationships is normative, but may seem problematic to many parents. Much work has examined sibling problem solving skills, and shows promising trends that siblings who may have higher than normal conflict often decline in conflict over time.
Howe, N., Fiorentino, L. M., & Gariépy, N. (2003). Sibling conflict in middle childhood: Influence of maternal context and mother-sibling interaction over four years. Merrill-Palmer Quarterly (1982-), 183-208. https://www.jstor.org/stable/23096227
Karavasilis Karos, L., Howe, N., & Aquan‐Assee, J. (2007). Reciprocal and complementary sibling interactions, relationship quality and socio‐emotional problem solving. Infant and Child Development: An International Journal of Research and Practice, 16(6), 577-596. https://doi.org/10.1002/icd.492
Tucker, C. J., Cox, G., Sharp, E. H., van Gundy, K. T., Rebellon, C., & Stracuzzi, N. F. (2013). Sibling Proactive and Reactive Aggression in Adolescence. Journal of Family Violence, 28(3), 299–310. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10896-012-9483-8
Through sibling relationships may vary considerably by genetics and family structure, Sibling relationships continue to provide substantial influences on behavior above and beyond that seen by parents and friends.