Older Siblings’ Responses to Younger Siblings’ Peer Conflict: A Qualitative Study With Black Children and Adolescents in High-Violence Communities

The purpose of this study was to identify older siblings’ responses to their younger siblings’ peer conflict situations and reasons for their responses. Findings will contribute to a gap in the field of violence prevention, which rarely considers siblings’ roles as socialization agents. Qualitative interviews were completed with 20 Black sibling pairs ( M = 11.08, SD = 2.81) from high-violence, under-resourced communities in the southeastern U.S. Younger siblings recalled an experience of peer conflict of which their older sibling was aware, and siblings discussed their responses to that situation. Themes that emerged during the interviews suggested that older siblings were likely to be present for and consulted about their younger siblings’ conflict situations, which primarily involved physical aggression. Younger siblings valued their older siblings’ input, as evidenced by older siblings’ responses being highly influential in younger siblings’ behavioral decisions. A conceptual model was proposed whereby older siblings’ responses to younger siblings’ conflict mediate the relation between older siblings’ roles and responsibilities, older siblings’ goals for their younger siblings, and older siblings’ beliefs about fighting and younger siblings’ responses to conflict. Moderators, such as younger siblings’ preferred support, sibling dyad characteristics, and sibling relationship processes, are proposed for the relation between older and younger siblings’ responses to peer conflict. Sibling relationships are a promising and underexplored avenue for effective youth violence prevention. These findings have the potential to inform prevention and intervention strategies by identifying older siblings as additional targets for programming.