Sibling relationships are among the longest-lasting relationships in most individuals' lives and the majority of the Dutch population has at least one sibling. Sibling relationships are crucial, as...Show moreSibling relationships are among the longest-lasting relationships in most individuals' lives and the majority of the Dutch population has at least one sibling. Sibling relationships are crucial, as they offer daily opportunities for children to develop social skills. The quality of sibling relationships can be influenced by various factors, including adverse childhood experiences (ACEs), which include 10 types of possible traumatic experiences among which child abuse, neglect and household dysfunction. ACEs can negatively impact a child's social and emotional development, posing risks to their ability to form and maintain relationships and having a possibly negative effect on their mental health later on in life. Current research often only considers biological siblings while the step-sibling relationship was the fastest-growing type of sibling relationship in families with divorced parents between 1997 and 2017. Therefore, the current study aimed to investigate the association between ACEs and the quality of the relationship among both biological and step-siblings who have experienced parental divorce. Hundred young adults between the ages of 18 and 25 completed a questionnaire in which they answered questions about their relationship with their siblings and their ACEs. Multiple regression analyses revealed that ACEs were similarly associated with a lower quality of the sibling relationships for both biological and stepsiblings. Specifically, emotional abuse by a parent during childhood and having a parent with alcohol and/or drug problems during childhood were linked to lower quality of the sibling relationship, while other childhood experiences examined were not related to relationship quality. These results highlight the significance of improving sibling relationship quality, as these relationships may buffer the adverse impacts of traumatic experiences. Adopting a family-focused approach could reduce these negative impacts, addressing the shadow of the past that these experiences may cast on sibling relationships.Show less
This study focuses on the quality of sibling relationships, measured in warmth and conflict, and its association with internalizing- and externalizing-behavior problems in adolescence. For the...Show moreThis study focuses on the quality of sibling relationships, measured in warmth and conflict, and its association with internalizing- and externalizing-behavior problems in adolescence. For the study, 26 sibling pairs aged 8-15 years were included. These were only biological siblings and all lived in or near Leiden. The sibling pairs came to Leiden University to individually complete a VR task and a computer task and to fill out a questionnaire (SRQ-S). The parent also completed a questionnaire (CBCL 6-18 years) during the study. For this study, the CBCL and the SRQ-S were used. For this specific study, the younger sibling was examined because the older sibling influences the younger sibling more than the younger sibling influences the older sibling. The study found that conflict in a sibling relationship was positively related to internalizing behavior problems in the younger sibling. This can be explained by the cognitive model of depression: conflict causes stress and this stress relates to negative distortions of reality. These negative distorions of reality can form negative cognitive schema’s which relate to internalizing problems. There were no associations between warmth and internalizing problems and between warmth, conflict and externalizing problems. These conclusions must take into account that a general population sample was used: there were no high or low rates of warmth, conflict, internalizing and externalizing problems; they were avarage.Show less
This study investigated which 'best practice' elements are used in the current treatment of victims of sibling sexual abuse. The information was collected through interviews with therapists to gain...Show moreThis study investigated which 'best practice' elements are used in the current treatment of victims of sibling sexual abuse. The information was collected through interviews with therapists to gain insight into the different interpretations and views of the therapists. The sample consisted of ten participants (therapists), including three men and seven women, who were invited via a call on the LinkedIn accounts of the lead researchers and by asking three different youth care institutions to distribute the call to their therapists. The study consisted of a semi-structured online interview of 45 minutes to one hour. The participants were individually interviewed by a researcher. The interviews showed that therapists seem to agree on the importance of using evidence-based trauma treatments, such as EMDR and CBT, treating the entire family system or treating parents parallel with the victim and having expertise or being able to refer to colleagues with the right expertise. In addition, explicitly discussing the sibling sexual abuse, making sure the client feels heard and seen and creating a safe therapeutic atmosphere by the therapist were notable themes that recurred in the interviews.Show less
This study examines the association between implicit gender stereotypes of fathers, children, and children’s problem behavior. The Implicit Association Task (IAT) was completed by fathers when...Show moreThis study examines the association between implicit gender stereotypes of fathers, children, and children’s problem behavior. The Implicit Association Task (IAT) was completed by fathers when their second born child was 4 years old, and when the child was 10 years old. The children completed the IAT when they were 10 years old. The Child Behavior Checklist was completed by both fathers and mothers to identify problem behavior when their child was 10 years old. The sample consisted of 148 Dutch families with high educational levels. There were no relations between the implicit gender stereotypes of fathers, the implicit gender stereotypes of children, and problem behavior of children. There was also no mediation by implicit gender stereotypes of 10-year-old children of the relations between implicit gender stereotypes of fathers when their child was 4 years old and problem behavior of the 10-year-old children. Lastly, there were no differences between boys and girls in the analysis named above. Only implicit gender stereotypes of fathers when their children were 4 years old were related to implicit gender stereotypes when their children were 10 years old, which shows stability of the gender stereotypes of fathers over a period of 6 years. The relation between gender stereotypes of fathers and children, and between problem behavior is probably related to environmental factors, such as peers, other family members, or to a combination of several factors.Show less