Accounts about siblings’ experience of physical, sexual, and emotional abuse: Prevalence and agreement in a retrospective study of adult sibling pairs

The validity of child abuse reports has been investigated, focusing on the agreement between prospective and retrospective reports of child abuse. The agreement of siblings' accounts about each other's experiences of abuse has been overlooked, although it might provide valuable insights. We examined the prevalence of accounts about siblings' experience of abuse in a retrospective survey and analyzed predictors of accounts about different types of abuse. Moreover, agreement between accounts about siblings’ experiences of abuse and predictors of agreement were investigated. Retrospective reports of 4568 adults participating in an online survey were analyzed in terms of predictors of accounts about siblings' experience of physical, sexual, and emotional abuse (71.31 % female). In a subsample of 870 participants, another sibling from the same family also participated in the survey, enabling the assessment of agreement in accounts. Predictors of accounts about siblings' experience of abuse and agreement between accounts were assessed using multivariate logistic regression. Agreement was assessed using Cohen's Kappa as well as agreement in percent. Siblings' experience of emotional abuse was reported by 6.33 % of the participants, siblings' experience of physical abuse by 5.76 %, and siblings' experience of sexual abuse by 2.74 %. The agreement was highest for accounts about physical abuse, followed by sexual abuse. The agreement was higher for accounts about older siblings' experience than for younger siblings' experience of all abuse types. Significant predictors of accounts about siblings’ experiences of abuse and agreement between accounts relate to informant characteristics, sibling constellation, sibling relationship quality, and self-reported experience of abuse and neglect. Findings highlight the possibility of investigating the prevalence rates of child abuse with reports of siblings, but also show possible factors contributing to bias in reporting and thus estimates. In practice, testimony from other family members is an essential aspect of restorative justice proceedings, and these findings might help understand conflicting testimonies. • One of the first studies to investigate agreement between siblings’ accounts about physical, sexual, and emotional abuse. • Accounts about siblings' experience of abuse have a lower frequency than retrospective self-reports. • One of the first studies to investigate agreement between siblings’ accounts about physical, sexual, and emotional abuse. • There is a higher agreement in relation to experiences of older siblings than to younger siblings. • Number of victimizations experienced by both siblings negatively affects the agreement in reports for all types of abuse.