ABSTRACT
Research on relationships within families suggests that hostility that occurs within one family subsystem, such as marital conflict, may spill over into other family subsystems, such as the sibling dyad. In addition, hostile patterns of behavior within the family may diminish prosocial behaviors between siblings. This chapter extends previous models of family relationships and the economic stress process by examining the interactional quality of the sibling relationship and its role as a mediator and moderator of the association between parenting behaviors and adolescent adjustment. There was a strong positive association between feelings of economic pressure and both mothers' and fathers' hostility toward their children. Both mother's and father's hostility had negative consequences for both the sibling relationship and for adolescent adjustment. These results suggest that siblings may emulate their parents' hostile interactional style in their own interactions. These hostile interactions in turn appear to put the young adolescent at increased risk for developing an antisocial, hostile interpersonal style.
