Chinese adolescents' positive relationships with parents: The effects of the sex of their younger sibling. Issue 4 (8th June 2022)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Chen, Bin‐Bin; Shen, Mengqian; Jin, Shenghua; French, Doran C.
• Is Part Of: PsyCh Journal. Volume 11:Issue 4(2022)
• Page Start: 460
• Page End: 469
• Publication Date: 2022-06-08
• Subjects: China -- sex -- longitudinal study -- parent–adolescent relationships -- siblings; Psychology -- Periodicals; 150
• DOI: 10.1002/pchj.547
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 2046-0252

Abstract

Abstract: We investigated how sibling status and sex of younger siblings influence Chinese adolescents' relationships with their fathers and mothers as a function of resource dilution and preference for sons. The sample included 1, 093 adolescents from the 8th grade ( M age = 13.96 years, SD = 0.75 years; 47% girls) and the 11th grade ( M age = 17.25 years, SD = 0.74 years; 57% girls) in a longitudinal study. Consistent with expectations pertaining to the hypothesis of resource dilution and son preference in combination, girls with a younger brother reported less positive relationships with mothers than either singleton girls or girls with a younger sister. No significant difference was found between singleton boys and boys with a younger sibling. The current findings show implications that the resource‐dilution theory and son preference culture together may place girls with a younger brother in an unfavorable condition of resource allocation.