More Than Sibling Rivalry

Is bullying on the home front between siblings as big a problem as bullying on the playground?

We’ve all heard about schoolyard bullies and the programs our schools are using to combat the problem. But we need to pay more attention to bullying on the home-front. Parents often minimize aggressive behavior among siblings…thinking it’s just part of normal sibling rivalry but this study shows it needs to be treated as potentially harmful and should not be dismissed as minor.

As part of a National Survey on Children’s Exposure to Violence, researchers interviewed more than 3,500 kids or their parents about aggression displayed by their siblings and peers. They assessed the range and extent of bullying by brothers and sisters… looking at everything from unkind words to physical violence. Each child’s mental health was also assessed.

The results showed that sibling aggression in the past year was associated with significantly worse mental health for both children and adolescents, with children 9 years and under showing the greatest distress. And the negative effects were evident in both mild and severe cases of bullying.