Abstract:
The current project investigated the influence of three life transitions on the intimacy and contact siblings share in early adulthood. Using a web-based survey, 260 young adults from two large state universities and community members from the Portland, Oregon area were surveyed about their relationships with a single biological sibling. Participants were asked a series of questions concerning three life transitions (transition out of the parental home, transition to marriage or intimate partnership, and the transition to parenthood), contact (e-mail, phone, and personal), and sibling intimacy. Participants
were also asked open-ended questions based on their responses to quantitative questions.
A series of hierarchical linear regressions identified that sister-sister pairs were associated with the greatest levels of e-mail, phone, and personal contact, followed by the sister-brother, brother-sister, and brother-brother pairs. The gender of sibling pairs was not found to have an influence on the intimacy siblings shared. Coresidential status showed little to no influence on the intimacy and e-mail contact siblings shared, indicating that intimacy and e-mail contact did not appear to be influenced by the transition away from home for siblings. The phone and personal contact was however, significant with the transition away from home. The intimate relationship status of sibling pairs had little to no influence on the intimacy and phone contact shared by siblings. As predicted, those pairs in which both the participant and the sibling were single showed the greatest e-mail and personal contact. When looking at the transition to parenthood, e-mail contact was
not influenced by the transition to parenthood, but childless sibling pairs identified the greatest levels of sibling intimacy and personal contact compared to all other pairs. Phone contact was the lowest for sibling pairs in which both the siblings were parents. Open-ended data offered a different explanation of the intimacy and contact between siblings. Feedback from participants indicated that intimacy was something that possibly remained consistent across gender and life transitions, even with a drop in personal, phone, and email contact. Implications and future directions were also explored.
