Abstract Aspartofalongitudinalstudyofsiblingandfriendrelationships,weexamined7-year-olds’conflictswithsiblingsandfriendsduringfreeplay,construction,andgametasks.Characteristicsofobservedconflictsandavertedconflictswerecomparedwithmaternal questionnaire responses.

Introduction Differenceshavebeenobservedinconflictswithsiblingsandfriendsduringmiddlechildhood,buttherehasbeenlittleresearchwiththisagegroupexamininghowobservedconflictsrelatetomothers’perceptionsoftheirchildren’sinteractions.Maternalquestionnaires are a useful complement to observational research, as they make it possible to examine aspects of relationships not readily observable in brief samples of behavior.

Mothers’perceptionsofchildren’srelationshipsarelikelytodiffersomewhatfromobservedbehaviors,especiallyinregardtoconflicts.Althoughmothersmaybemorecognizantofconflictsinvolvingblatantactsofphysicalaggression,conflictsoflowerintensity or those involving less obvious forms of aggression, such as relational aggression, may be less noticeable to mothers.

As part of a longitudinal study of sibling and friend relationships, we examined connections between (1) siblings’ and friends’ conflictsinmiddlechildhood,asobservedinbriefplaysessions,and(2)mothers’assessmentsoftheirchildren’srelationships.Overall, we expected greater concordance between mothers’ perceptions and observed behavior for sibling relationships than for friendships, due to mothers’ greater familiarity with their own children and more frequent opportunities to observe sibling interactions. Furthermore, we expect the more symmetrical and intimate the mothers perceived the relationship between the target childandsiblingorpeer,themoreconflictsthatwillbeobserved.However,weexpectthemoreharmoniousthemothersperceivedthissamerelationship,lessconflictswillbeobserved.

MethodParticipants • Onehundredandsixwhite,middleclassAmericantarget7-yearolds.• Halfofthetarget7yearoldswereobservedwithasiblingwhowas15to30monthsyounger,halfwithasiblingwhowas15 to30monthsolder.• Halfofthetargetchildrenwerefemale,halfofthetargetchildrenweremale.• Halfofthesiblingpairsweresame-sex,halfofthesiblingpairsweremixed-sex.• Asame-age,same-sexfriendofeachtargetchildalsoparticipatedinthestudy.

Procedure• Targetchildrenwerevideotapedathomeinatotalofsixseparate15-minutesessions,threewiththeirsiblingandthreewith their peer, using materials provided by the experimenters. • Whilethechildrenwerevideotaped,motherscompleteda24-itemquestionnaireregardingthetargetchild’susualpatternof behaviorwiththesiblingandfriend.Mothersratedcharacteristicsofsymmetry,harmony,intimacy,andconflictwithinthe targetchild’srelationshipwiththesiblingandfriend,asdefinedinTable1.• Thevideotapesweretranscribedandcodedforconflictandavertedconflicts.• Conflictsweredefinedasexchanges containing mutual opposition, either verbal or behavioral. • Avertedconflictsweredefinedasoppositional behaviors, physical or verbal, that are not reciprocated by the partner.• Onceidentified,conflictsandavertedconflictswerecodedforfrequency,duration,numberofturns,instigator,issue, aggression,andaffectiveintensity.Conflictswerealsocodedforterminationstrategyandoutcome,whileavertedconflicts were coded for response of partner. Analyses• Relationshipsbetweenconflict,avertedconflict,andverbalironywereanalyzedusingPearsonbivariatecorrelationcoefficients.• Incidenceofconflictandavertedconflictwereanalyzedusingseparate2(partner)x2(targetchildgender)x2(siblinggender) repeated-measuresMANOVA.

Table1.ExampleofQuestionnaireItems

ResultsConflict by Task Characteristics (Figure 1)• Construction oSiblingshadmoreconflictsperengagedminute(M=1.54,SD=1.25)thanfriends(M=.92,SD=.53). o Siblingshadmoreavertedconflictsperengagedminute(M=1.70,SD = 1.68) than friends (M=1.54, SD=1.25).• Free-Play o Siblingshadmoreconflictsperengagedminute(M=1.60,SD = 1.17) than friends (M = 1.18, SD=.84). o Siblingshadmoreavertedconflictsperengagedminute(M=1.90,SD = 1.67) than friends (M = 1.19, SD=.92).• Game o Siblingshadmoreconflictsperengagedminute(M=1.44,SD = .97) than friends (M=1.03,SD=.64). o Siblingshadmoreavertedconflictsperengagedminute(M = 1.91, SD=.45)thanfriends(M=.59, SD=.48).

Maternal Perceptions of Sibling and Friend Relationships (Table 2)• Construction o Mothersaccuratelypredictedconflictdurationforconstructiontaskswithsiblings,p<.350,but inaccuratelypredictedconflictfrequencyforconstructiontaskswithsiblings,p<-.317. o Mothersaccuratelypredictedpeeravertedconflictdurationinconstruction,p<.333 o Mothers’ratingsofpeerharmonywerenegativelycorrelatedwithpeeravertedconflictdurationin constructiontasks,p<-.386.• Free-Play o Mothers’ratingsofsiblingsymmetrywerepositivelycorrelatedwithphysicaloppositionalbehaviorin conflictswithsiblingduringfreeplaytasks,p<.406. o Mothers’ratingsofsiblingsymmetrywerenegativelycorrelatedwithphysicaloppositionalbehaviorin avertedconflictswithsiblingduringfreeplaytasks,p<-.456. o Mothersaccuratelypredictedpeeravertedconflictdurationinfreeplay,p<.348. o Mothers’ratingsofpeersymmetrywerepositivelycorrelatedtoavertedconflictfrequencyand durationinfreeplay,p<.370;p<.367.• Game o Mothers’ratingsofpeerintimacywerepositivelycorrelatedwithpeerconflictdurationingametasks, p<.334. o Mothersaccuratelypredictedthenumberofpeeravertedconflictswithaggressioningametasks,p<.354.

Discussion Theresultspartiallysupportedourhypothesis;mothersmoreaccuratelypredictedconflictdurationbetweensiblingsthanpeersacrossalltasks.However,motherswerenotabletoaccuratelypredictconflictfrequencybetweensiblingsduringconstructiontasks.Intermsofavertedconflicts,motherswereabletopredictpeeravertedconflictdurationinconstructionandfreeplay,aswellasthenumberofpeeravertedconflictswithaggression in game tasks. Ourresultssupportourhypothesisthatmothers’ratingsofsiblingsymmetryreflecttheamountofphysicaloppositionalbehaviorpresentinconflictswithsiblingsduringfreeplaytasks.Similarly,mothers’ratingsofpeersymmetrypredictedavertedconflictfrequencyanddurationduringfreeplaytasks.Incontrast,perceptionsof sibling symmetry did not correctly predict the amount of physical oppositional behavior in sibling averted conflictsduringfreeplaytasks.Inaddition,mothers’ratingsofpeerintimacywerepositivelycorrelatedwithpeerconflictdurationingametasks.Mothers’ratingsofpeerharmonywerenegativelyrelatedtopeeravertedconflictdurationinconstructiontasks.Overall,ourresultssuggestthatmothers’perceptionsofchildren’ssiblingandfriendrelationshipsarenotparticularlyconcordantwithoverallrateofconflict.However,theirperceptionsdopredictcertainqualitativeaspectsofchildren’sconflictbehavior. Theseresultscouldbeexplainedbythenotionthatmothersmaybetunedintohigh-intensityorlong-lastingconflicts,particularlythoseinvolvingaggressionorphysicaloppositionandfailtorecognizelowintensityoppositionalbehaviors.Furthermore,itispossiblethatmothersmaybemoreattunedtoconflictandavertedconflictsinpeerrelationshipsthaninsiblingrelationshipstoavoidembarrassmentasaresultoftheirchild’smisbehaviorwithanindividualoutsideofthefamily.Infuturestudies,researcherscouldexamineifmothers’perceptions of their child’s behavior decrease in accuracy as the child ages.

BriannaHeuser,MadeleineReisGerzog,AustinSimon,CourtneyWoolever,RoseZinkowski,FrancescaDiGiorgio,BriannaBrooks-Miller,NicholasKoithan&GanieB.DeHart,Ph.D

Examples of questionnaire itemsAsymmetry e.g.,When[targetchild]and[sibling/friend]dothingstogether,[targetchild] tendstotakecharge.

e.g.,[Targetchild] tells [sibling/friend]whattodoandtries totakecontrol.e.g.,Ifsomeonepickson[sibling/friend], [targetchild]protects orsticksupforhim.

Harmony e.g.,[Targetchild] and[sibling/friend]getalongwellwitheachother.e.g.,[Targetchild] helps[sibling/friend].e.g.,[Targetchild] sharesthings(forexample, foodorbelongings)with[sibling/friend].

Conflict e.g.,Thereisalotofconflictbetween[targetchild]and[sibling/friend].e.g.,[Targetchild] and[sibling/friend]competewitheachotherformother’sattention.e.g.,[Targetchild] and[sibling/friend]getintophysical fights.

Intimacy e.g.,[Targetchild] and[sibling/friend]enjoyspending timetogether.e.g.,[Targetchild] isphysicallyaffectionate to[sibling/friend].e.g.,[Targetchild] and[sibling/friend]understandeachother’sfeelings.

Table2.MaternalPerceptionsofFriendRelationships

Figure1.ConflictCharacteristicsofSiblingandFriendRelationships

Observed Conflicts and Mothers’ Perceptions of 7-year-olds’ Sibling and Friend Relationships

0.40

0.60

0.80

1.00

1.20

1.40

1.60

1.80

2.00

2.20

FreePlay Game Construction

Rat

e pe

r Eng

aged

Min

ute

Task

Sibling ConflictSibling Averted ConflictPeerConflictPeerAvertedConflict

FreePlay Game Construction

Asymmetry

PhysicalOppositionalBehavior in Conflict, r(38)=.408,p<.05

ns ns PhysicalOppositionalBehavior in Averted

Conflict, r(40)=-.456,p<.01

Harmony ns ns ns

Conflict ns ns

Conflict Frequency, r(40)=

-.317,p<.05 Conflict Duration,

r(35)=.350,p<.05 Intimacy ns ns ns