Sibling delinquency and the family environment: shared and unshared influences.
Few family studies of delinquency have focused on siblings. We use a sibling research design to evaluate shared (i.e., family) and unshared environmental influences on delinquency. The 15-22-year-old adolescent siblings were nationally representative, and uniquely, in families of 2 to 4 siblings. No unshared family environmental influences were found for sisters and for mixed-sex siblings, but they may exist for brothers. The data suggested substantial shared environmental and/or shared genetic influences for siblings: the median sibling correlations, averaged over family sizes, were: brothers, r = .30; sisters, r = .28, and mixed sex, r = .21.
Rowe
D C
DC
School of Family and Consumer Resources, University of Arizona, Tucson 85721.
Rodgers
J L
JL
Meseck-Bushey
S
S
D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D001741:Black or African American / Q000523:psychology; D001722:Birth Order; D005190:Family / Q000523:psychology*; D005260:Female; D006630:Hispanic or Latino / Q000523:psychology; D006801:Humans; D007604:Juvenile Delinquency / Q000523:psychology*; D008137:Longitudinal Studies; D008297:Male; D009518:New York; D012307:Risk Factors; D012801:Sibling Relations; D012931:Social Environment