Adult sibling tension and psychological well-being in the context of older mothers’ health limitations: Variation by gender and race

Research on sibling relationships has documented an association between sibling tension and psychological well-being across the life course, however, less is known about how sibling tension in adulthood shapes psychological well-being in the context of older parents’ health limitations. We extend research on sibling tension and psychological well-being by considering the following: (1) Does the association between sibling tension and depressive symptoms vary by whether older mothers have health limitations? and (2) Does the association between sibling tension and depressive symptoms vary by gender or race when mothers have health limitations? To examine these research questions, we used mixed-methods data collected from 689 adult children nested within 287 families as part of the Within-Family Differences Study. Analysis using multi-level regression modeling revealed that the association between sibling tension and depressive symptoms did not vary by whether older mothers had health limitations nor gender. However, the association varied by race when mothers had health limitations. Specifically, the association between sibling tension and depressive symptoms was stronger in Black families in which mothers did not have health limitations compared to Black families in which mothers did have health limitations. In contrast, there were no differences in the strength of the association between sibling tension and depressive symptoms in White families, regardless of mothers’ limitations status. Qualitative findings indicated that for siblings in Black families, older mothers’ health limitations enhanced values of cohesion among adult children, reducing the association between sibling tension and depressive symptoms.