Introduction and Literature Review
The study was conducted with the aim of ascertaining the link between the supports from older siblings that are academically prosperous to their young siblings. The study was of significance, since prior studies carried out were mainly based on studying the support offered from teachers, parents and peers but not siblings.
As such, inclusion of siblings in the study provided a new dimension in identifying sources of support to young adults especially in early adolescence. Some studies carried out show that older siblings have influence over the decisions their younger siblings make especially in terms of behaviour and psychological adjustments as they grow up.
Furthermore, some studies carried out both in rural and urban areas indicate that adolescents in both settings were more likely to perform better in school if they had better performing older siblings. As expected little support was gained from young siblings by the older ones especially in performance in academics.
The researchers found out that support from peers and adults whom the adolescents deem to be important, resulted in improvement of grades. The same results were replicated in those adolescents whose parents were actively involved or showed an interest in academic performance of the respective adolescents.
Research shows that gender plays a role in determining academic success of adolescents. Studies have shown that close associations of siblings especially among the female gender has a greater impact when it comes to promotion of academic excellence in this population subset as compared to the associations among their male counterparts.
In contrast, due to deintification, scholars have observed a tendency of siblings to adapt different approaches in order to feel unique in their own sense. The phenomenon is more elaborate in mixed gender dyads as compared to same gender dyads.
The influence of race and ethnicity to academic support from older siblings to their young has been studied in majority of the cases in white populations and very few studies have been carried out in other minority groups. In this study, the researchers studied both the European-Americans and African-Americans. Previous studies have shown a more positive attitude towards academics in African-American girls as compared to boys.
Methods
The Maryland Adolescent Development in Context (MADIC) study was the source of data for the study. A mid-Atlantic county was the setting of the study from which 23 junior high schools were identified for sampling procedure for both adolescents and their families.
Thereafter, sampling was done and 1,498 participants met the inclusion criteria and participated in the first phase of the study termed Time 1. A subsample for the study was chosen and it consisted of 341 adolescents with a mean age of 12.23 years at Time 1 and their immediate older sibling.
The older sibling subsamples had a mean age of 15 years and were to older by between 1 and 6 years. In addition, the older siblings need to be having been living in the same home as the younger one at Time 1. As such, it is only the seventh graders from what was termed intact family that were chosen for the study.
To ensure that only those siblings that had spent most of the time together were used in the study, adolescents from stepfamilies or platonic relationships were not included in the study. Basing on these criteria, 51% of all the older siblings were of the female gender while 47.5% were of the male gender. Basing on ethnicity, 56.6% were of African-American ethnicity while 43.4% were European-Americans.
The family income was incorporated in the study with the median yearly income in African-American families ranging from$45,000–$49,999 while that for European-Americans being $50,000–$54,999. At the end, Two hundred and fifty-one adolescents were enrolled into the longitudinal analyses. The study experienced a decrease in the sample size, with 90 adolescents leaving the study between Time 1 and Time 2.
Data Collection
Most of the data was collected through face-to-face interviews. Furthermore, self-administered questionnaires to both the adolescents and their older siblings were used in collection of data. Collection of data was done in the respective family homes of the adolescents. Effect of the study was assessed for a period of 6-months immediately after the adolescents completed their 8th grade.
Statistical Analyses and Results
To ensure inclusion of all confounding factors Cronbach’s α coefficient was used to integrate potential confounding factors such as gender, race, and age difference between the siblings under study. Other measures used in the study include a 6-point Likert-style scale and the test retest reliability measure for the validity of the results.
A multivariate analysis was carried out on the various variables in the study. The results obtained showed that adolescents who had same sex older siblings were more likely to gain from the support offered by their older siblings.
For those adolescents in same sex dyads, it was observed that their was a higher chance that they will receive support fro their older siblings as compared to those from mixed-sex dyads. Ethnically, it was observed that both young and older adolescents of African-American identity were more likely to receive substantial support as compared to those from European-American background. There was no noteworthy correlation between the sex dyad and ethnicity.
Conclusion
The study shows that there is little change in attitude of the young siblings regarding academics regardless of the performance of the older sibling. Performance of both sets of siblings waned over time regardless of support from both parties especially in mixed-sex dyads.
The outcomes of the study are significant since other variables that may have affected the results such as parental involvement were included in the statistical analysis of the results obtained. African-Americans young siblings were observed to gain more inspiration from their older siblings as compared to European-Americans.
Bibliography
Buhrmester Duane, and Furman Wyndol. “Perceptions of sibling relationships during middle childhood and adolescence.”Child Development, (1990): 61, 1387–1398.