Do siblings influence each other's delinquent behavior over the course of adolescence?

What is it about?

We studied to what extent adolescents' delinquent behaviour is influenced by their siblings' delinquent behaviour, and how this varies over the course of adolescence. In doing so, we took into account the well-documented effects of adolescents' bonds to peers, parents and school. We found that sisters influence each other's behavior mainly in the period of early adolescence, whereas for brothers this effect was present in later adolescence. The effects of parents and school were found to be stable , whereas the effect of peers increased over the course of adolescence.

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Why is it important?

These findings can be important for prevention and intervention strategies aimed at families of delinquent adolescents. It also gives directions for further research: future studies could look even more precisely at the complete family context, including all brothers and sisters, and at the exact mechanisms that explain how siblings influence each other's behaviours.