Understanding Sibling Responsiveness Among Pre-Adolescent and Adolescent Youth in Foster Care

Background: Federal and state policies require child welfare agencies to promote sibling co-placement for foster youth and promote the formation and sustainment of sibling relational bonds where feasible.  Yet little is known about (a) how youth in foster care and the adults involved in their lives perceive siblings’ responsiveness to each other’s needs or (b) what factors best support sibling relationships among foster youth. The purpose of this study is to examine empirical data focused on relationship quality of siblings in care.

Method:Data are from an NIMH-funded RCT focused on siblings in foster care.  In this analysis, data were from older siblings (n=102) who completed the Sibling Responsiveness scale (SRQRS) within the Sibling Relationship Quality measure (Ginsberg & Gottman, 1986).  The SRQRS is a nine-item Likert-type scale (α=.92) embedded within the SRQ.  A multivariate regression analysis was conducted with the SRQRS as the outcome variable.  Age, living situation (together or apart), a 4-category dummy variable operationalizing siblings’ gender composition (older brother, younger brother (referent); older brother, younger sister; older sister, younger sister; older sister, younger brother), and CBCL externalizing T-scores were entered as independent variables.

Results: Findings suggest that older siblings overall report moderate agreement in their responsiveness to their younger sibling (SRQRS intercept = 3.84, p < .01).  Living apart was significantly and positively associated with responsiveness (b=.46, SE=.19, p < .05).  Compared to older brothers of younger males all other gender compositions reported lower mean scores of SRQRS, the poorest perceived responsiveness was found among the older brothers of younger sisters (b=-.74, SE=.23, p < .01).  Differences among the other gender compositions were smaller and not statistically significant.  The associations between SRQRS and age or CBCL externalizing T-scores were not statistically significant. There was a difference (t(56)=-2.95, p < .05) between mean age of older siblings who lived apart (M=13.76, SD=1.39) and together (M=12.84, SD=1.39), suggesting maturity of older sibling may be a factor. 

Implications: Preventative services for youth in foster care can be better tailored when we understand the factors that strengthen essential family relationships, including the sibling bond.  Study findings suggest that living apart may increase the perceived relationship responsiveness between siblings.  This may reflect the idea that siblings who live together tend to have interactions that may serve as irritants more consistently than those siblings living apart.  Alternatively child welfare worker and family member efforts to promote high-quality interactions between siblings living in different settings may better support these youth.  Future research is needed to understand additional factors that impact the perception of relationship quality.  Additionally, services may need to be tailored to those sibling dyads composed of older brothers and younger sisters with respect to ability to respond to and support younger sisters.