Social competence and parental differential treatment across sibling dyads

Name

Helena Rose KarnilowiczFollow
Meenakshi Palaniappan, University of San FranciscoFollow
Shannon McCarthy, University of San FranciscoFollow
Taryn Larribas, University of San FranciscoFollow
Margaret Gross, University of San FranciscoFollow
Shirley McGuire, University of San FranciscoFollow

Major

Psychology

Research Abstract

Parental differential treatment (PDT), which varies as a function of genetic relatedness between siblings, has been linked to children’s self-worth. Thus, the purpose of the current study was to examine the relationship between mother’s reports of differential treatment in play and children’s self-reports of social competence across dyad types. Participants were 54 monozygotic (MZ) twins, 86 dizygotic (DZ) twins, 68 full siblings (FS), and 43 same-aged adoptees (VT) and their mothers. Analyses revealed a significant trend for PDT on children’s social competence, F (1, 234) = 2.93, p = .088, while siblings’ social competence means reflected genetic and age effects.

Faculty Mentor/Advisor

Dr. Shirley McGuire