Parental Differential Treatment of Siblings and Adolescents’ Health-Related Behaviors: The Moderating Role of Personality

Keywords

siblings, sleep, health, and exercise habits, differential treatment, favoritism, conscientiousness, parenting

Abstract

Youth who receive comparatively poorer parental treatment than a sibling are at risk for maladaptive behaviors in a variety of domains, but research has yet to examine links with adolescents’ health-related behaviors nor consider how those links may vary based on adolescents’ personality traits, namely conscientiousness and agreeableness. Two siblings (n = 590 adolescents; 53% female; Mage = 15.86, SD = 1.73) from 295 families reported on their differential conflict and closeness with their fathers and mothers as well as on their personality, sleep habits, exercise habits, and general health habits. Multilevel modeling revealed that, generally, the less conscientious adolescents had better health habits when they had comparatively warmer relationships with their mothers. Less conscientiousness adolescents may be less distressed by inequality in the family, and thus may experience positive effects of relatively better treatment.

Original Publication Citation

Jensen, A.C., Apsley, H.B., Rolan, E.P. et al. Parental Differential Treatment of Siblings and Adolescents’ Health-Related Behaviors: The Moderating Role of Personality. Journal of Youth and Adolescence 49, 150–161 (2020).

Document Type

Peer-Reviewed Article

Publication Date

2019-07-06

Permanent URL

http://hdl.lib.byu.edu/1877/6956

Publisher

Journal of Youth and Adolescence

Language

English

College

Family, Home, and Social Sciences

Department

Family Life

University Standing at Time of Publication

Assistant Professor

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