ABSTRACT
In his seminal trilogy of books on attachment theory, John Bowlby mentioned sibling relationships only a handful of times. Beyond viewing siblings solely as strains on the attachment system, some researchers have looked at siblings as potential attachment figures, either in conjunction with or instead of the parents. Ainsworth mentioned occasional instances in which an older sibling may act as an attachment figure for the younger, particularly in the case of the loss of one or both parents. Siblings tend to have concordant attachments with their mother, with little variability between monozygotic twins, dizygotic twins, and normal sibling pairs, suggesting that genetic factors play a relatively small role as compared to factors of a shared environment. Investigation of sibling relationship quality and attachment took on a more exploratory nature. Paternal attachment security did not significantly relate to the security of either child, a disappointing finding that nevertheless was consistent with extant research.
