Sibling Delinquency and the Family Environment: Shared and Unshared Influences |
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| Authors: | David C Rowe Joseph L Rodgers Sylvia Meseck-Bushey |
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| Institution: | School of Family and Consumer Resources, University of Arizona, Tucson 85721. |
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| Abstract: | 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. |
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