title: Romantic Relationship Experiences from Late Adolescence to Young Adulthood: The Role of Older Siblings in Mexican-Origin Families.
abstract: Youth's experiences with romantic relationships during adolescence and young adulthood have far reaching implications for future relationships, health, and well-being; yet, although scholars have examined potential peer and parent influences, we know little about the role of siblings in youth's romantic relationships. Accordingly, this study examined the prospective longitudinal links between Mexican-origin older and younger siblings' romantic relationship experiences and variation by sibling structural and relationship characteristics (i.e., sibling age and gender similarity, younger siblings' modeling) and cultural values (i.e., younger siblings' familism values). Data from 246 Mexican-origin families with older (M = 20.65 years; SD = 1.57; 50 % female) and younger (M = 17.72 years; SD = .57; 51 % female) siblings were used to examine the likelihood of younger siblings' involvement in dating relationships, sexual relations, cohabitation, and engagement/marriage with probit path analyses. Findings revealed older siblings' reports of involvement in a dating relationship, cohabitation, and engagement/marriage predicted younger siblings' relationship experiences over a 2-year period. These links were moderated by sibling age spacing, younger siblings' reports of modeling and familism values. Our findings suggest the significance of social learning dynamics as well as relational and cultural contexts in understanding the links between older and younger siblings' romantic relationship experiences among Mexican-origin youth.
authors.affiliation: Nebraska Center for Research on Children, Youth, Families and Schools, University of Nebraska-Lincoln, 160D Whittier Research Center, P.O. Box 830858, Lincoln, NE, 68583-0858, USA. lorey@unl.edu.
authors.forename: Lorey A
authors.identifier: http://orcid.org/0000-0001-9975-6702
authors.initials: LA
authors.lastname: Wheeler
authors.affiliation: Department of Human Development and Family Science, University of Missouri, 408 Gentry Hall, Columbia, MO, 65211, USA.
authors.forename: Sarah E
authors.initials: SE
authors.lastname: Killoren
authors.affiliation: Department of Human Development and Family Studies, Purdue University, 1202 W. State St., West Lafayette, IN, 47907, USA.
authors.forename: Shawn D
authors.initials: SD
authors.lastname: Whiteman
authors.affiliation: The T. Denny Sanford School of Social and Family Dynamics, Arizona State University, Tempe, AZ, 85287-3701, USA.
authors.forename: Kimberly A
authors.initials: KA
authors.lastname: Updegraff
authors.affiliation: Department of Human Development and Family Studies, Social Science Research Institute, The Pennsylvania State University, 114 Henderson, University Park, PA, 16802, USA.
authors.forename: Susan M
authors.initials: SM
authors.lastname: McHale
authors.affiliation: The T. Denny Sanford School of Social and Family Dynamics, Arizona State University, Tempe, AZ, 85287-3701, USA.
authors.forename: Adriana J
authors.initials: AJ
authors.lastname: Umaña-Taylor
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000294:Adolescent Behavior / Q000208:ethnology* / Q000523:psychology; D000367:Age Factors; D005191:Family Characteristics; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007398:Interpersonal Relations; D008137:Longitudinal Studies; D008297:Male; D017058:Mexican Americans / Q000523:psychology; D011446:Prospective Studies; D012725:Sexual Behavior / Q000208:ethnology* / Q000523:psychology; D012801:Sibling Relations / Q000208:ethnology*; D035781:Siblings / Q000208:ethnology / Q000523:psychology*; D055815:Young Adult
keywords: Adolescence; Culture; Mexican-origin families; Romantic relationships; Siblings; Young adulthood