Emerging Ideas: Is sibling aggression as scary as peer aggression in childhood and adolescence?

Abstract

AbstractObjectiveWe compared the frequency of fearfulness for sibling versus peer victimization experiences (severe and minor physical, property, and psychological) in childhood and adolescence.BackgroundSibling aggression is not recognized as a childhood adversity. Yet a tenet of the family violence literature is that abuse is more fearsome when living with an abuser.MethodTelephone interviews were conducted with parents of children aged 1 to 9 years and with adolescents 10 to 17 years old living with a juvenile sibling (N = 7,029; 49% female) using data from three combined surveys of the National Survey on Children's Exposure to Violence.ResultsFear of sibling aggression was less common than peer aggression. Further, sibling aggression was less fearful than peer aggression for severe and minor physical and property episodes. There was little variation by gender, ethnicity, and parent education level.ConclusionsChildren and adolescents do not lack fear from sibling aggression, but the fear is lower than for peer aggression.ImplicationsA prevalent idea in the family violence literature that living with an offender generates more fear was not supported for sibling aggression.