Siblings have considerable influence on children's development, yet most human development research has neglected the investigation of sibling socialization in favor of a focus on parental socialization. This volume uses a family systems framework to examine the ways in which siblings contribute uniquely to one another's social and emotional development. The groundbreaking lines of research in this volume address mechanisms by which children are influenced by their sisters and brothers, ways in which these processes of sibling socialization are similar to and different from those with parents, and conditions under which sibling socialization has postive versus negative impact on individual development. Throughout this volume, attention is devoted to contextual factors that moderate sibling influences, such as family structure, life course events, ethnicity and culture, gender, and demographic indicators. This is the 126th volume of the Jossey-Bass quarterly report series New Directions for Child and Adolescent Development. The mission of this series is to provide scientific and scholarly presentations on cutting edge issues and concepts in the field of child and adolescent development. Each volume focuses on a specific new direction or research topic, and is edited by an expert or experts on that topic.

Author Biography

Laurie Kramer is professor of applied family studies in the Department of Human and Community Development at the University of Illinois, Urbana. Katherine J. Conger is associate professor of human development and family studies in the Department of Human and Community Development at the University of California, Davis.