Hostname: page-component-78c5997874-94fs2 Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-10T08:13:24.120Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

School Engagement and Achievement in Sibling Pairs: Gender and Birth Order Matter

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  18 December 2018

Larissa M. Troesch ,
Thomas Ledermann ,
Joseph W. Jones  and
Alexander Grob
Larissa M. Troesch*
Affiliation:
University of Basel, Basel, Switzerland
Thomas Ledermann
Affiliation:
Florida State University, Tallahassee, Florida, USA
Joseph W. Jones
Affiliation:
Utah State University, Logan, Utah, USA
Alexander Grob
Affiliation:
University of Basel, Basel, Switzerland
*
Address for correspondence: Larissa M. Troesch, Department of Psychology, University of Basel, Missionsstrasse 60, 4055 Basel, Switzerland. Email: larissa.troesch@unibas.ch
Get access

Abstract

School engagement has been shown to be a strong predictor for school achievement. Previous studies have focused on the role of individual and contextual factors to explain school achievement, with few examining the role of siblings. This study used data of 451 adolescent sibling pairs from the Iowa Youth and Families Project to investigate the associations between school engagement and achievement in siblings by considering gender composition and birth order. Data were collected in families’ home and obtained for a target child in the 7th grade and for a sibling within 4 years of age. Average age of younger siblings (55% female) was 11.56 (SD = 1.27), while older siblings (49% female) had an average age of 13.92 (SD = 1.47). Using the two-member, four-group actor-partner interdependence model (APIM), results showed that older siblings’ engagement was positively related with younger siblings’ achievement in same-gender sibling pairs, but not in sibling pairs of opposite gender. Younger siblings’ engagement was independent of older siblings’ achievement regardless of siblings’ gender. Implications for parents and professionals suggest that support for older siblings could also benefit younger siblings in same gender pairs.

Keywords

siblingsschool achievementschool engagementgender compositionbirth orderAPIM
Type
Research Article
Information
Journal of Relationships Research , Volume 9 , 2018 , e19
Copyright
Copyright © The Author(s) 2018 

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Bandura, A. (1969). Social-learning theory of identificatory processes. In Goslin, D.A. (Ed.), Handbook of socialization theory and research (pp. 213–261). Chicago, IL: Rand McNally.Google Scholar
Berk, L.E. (2008). Infants, children and adolescents (6th ed.). Boston, MA: Pearson Education.Google Scholar
Blake, J. (1981). Family-size and the quality of children. Demography, 18, 421–442. doi:10.2307/2060941Google Scholar
Blakemore, J.E.O., Berenbaum, S., & Liben, L.L. (2009). Gender development. New York: Psychology Press.Google Scholar
Bouchey, H.A., Shouldberg, E.K., Jodl, K.M., & Eccles, J.S. (2010). Longitudinal links between older sibling features and younger siblings’ academic adjustment during early adolescence. Journal of Educational Psychology, 102, 197–211.Google Scholar
Bronfenbrenner, U. (2005). Making human beings human. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.Google Scholar
Buhrmester, D., & Furman, W. (1990). Perceptions of sibling relationships during middle childhood and adolescence. Child Development, 61, 1387–1398. doi:10.2307/1130750Google Scholar
Cicirelli, V.G. (1995). Sibling relationships across the life span. New York, NY: Plenum Press.Google Scholar
Cohen, J. (1992). A power primer. Psychological Bulletin, 112, 155–159.Google Scholar
Conger, R.D. (1988). Developed for the Iowa Youth and Families Project (Project no. ICPSR26721). Ann Arbor, MI: Inter-university Consortium for Political and Social Research.Google Scholar
Conger, R.D., Lasley, P., Lorenz, F.O., Simons, R., Whitbeck, L.B., Elder, G.H., & Norem, R. (2011). Iowa Youth and Families Project, 1989–1992 (Project no. ICPSR26721). Ann Arbor, MI: Interuniversity Consortium for Political and Social Research.Google Scholar
Dunn, J. (1983). Sibling relationships in early childhood. Child Development, 54, 787–811. doi:10.2307/1129886Google Scholar
Dunn, J. (2015). Siblings. In Grusec, J.E. & Hastings, P.D. (Eds.), Handbook of socialization: Theory and research (pp. 182–201). New York, NY: Guilford Press.Google Scholar
Eccles, J.S., Early, D., Fraser, K., Belansky, E., & McCarthy, K. (1997). The relation of connection, regulation, and support for autonomy to adolescents’ functioning. Journal of Adolescent Research, 12, 263–286. doi:10.1177/0743554897122007Google Scholar
Eccles, J.S., & Wigfield, A.W. (2002). Motivational beliefs, values, and goals. Annual Review of Psychology, 53, 109–132. doi:10.1146/annurev.psych.53.100901.135153Google Scholar
Elder, G.H. Jr. (1988). Developed for the Iowa Youth and Families Project (Project no. ICPSR26721). Ann Arbor, MI: Interuniversity Consortium for Political and Social Research.Google Scholar
Farkas, T., & Leaper, C. (2014). Is having an older sister or older brother related to younger siblings’ gender typing? A meta-analysis. In Leman, P. & Tenenbaum, H. (Eds.), Current issues in developmental psychology. Gender and development (pp. 63–77). New York, NY: Psychology Press.Google Scholar
Fredricks, J.A., Blumenfeld, P.C., & Paris, A.H. (2004). School engagement: potential of concept, state of the evidence. Review of Educational Research, 74, 59–109. doi:10.3102/00346543074001059Google Scholar
Froiland, J.M., & Worrell, F.C. (2016). Intrinsic motivation, learning goals, engagement, and achievement in a diverse high school. Psychology in the Schools, 53, 321–336. doi:10.1002/pits.21901Google Scholar
Furman, W., & Buhrmester, D. (1985). Children's perceptions of the qualities of sibling relationships. Child Development, 56, 448–461. doi:10.2307/1129733Google Scholar
Gamble, W., Yu, J.J., & Card, N.A. (2010). Self-representations in early adolescence: Variations in sibling similarity by sex composition and sibling relationship qualities. Social Development, 19, 148–169. doi:10.1111/j.1467-9507.2008.00532.xGoogle Scholar
Guan, S.A., & Fuligni, A.J. (2016). Changes in parent, sibling, and peer support during the transition to young adulthood. Journal of Research on Adolescence, 26, 286–299. doi:10.1111/jora.12191Google Scholar
Im, M.H., Hughes, J.N., & West, S.G. (2016). Effects of trajectories of friends’ and parents’ school involvement on adolescents’ engagement and achievement. Journal of Research on Adolescence 26, 963–978. doi:10.1111/jora.12247Google Scholar
Jensen, A.R. (1997). The puzzle of nongenetic variance. In Sternberg, R.J. & Grigorenko, E.L. (Eds.), Intelligence, heredity, and environment (pp. 42–88). New York: Cambridge University Press.Google Scholar
Jensen, A.C., & McHale, S.M. (2015). What makes siblings different? The development of sibling differences in academic achievement and interests. Journal of Family Psychology, 29, 469–478. doi:10.1037/fam0000090.Google Scholar
Keith, T.Z., & Cool, V.A. (1992). Testing models of school learning: Effects of quality of instruction, motivation, academic coursework, and homework on academic achievement. School Psychology Quarterly, 7, 207–226. doi:10.1037/h0088260Google Scholar
Keith, T.Z., Reimers, T.M., Fehrmann, P.G., Pottebaum, S.M., & Aubey, L.W. (1986). Parental involvement, homework, and TV time: Direct and indirect effects on high school achievement. Journal of Educational Psychology, 78, 373–380. doi:10.1037/0022-0663.78.5.373Google Scholar
Kramer, L. (2014). Learning emotional understanding and emotion regulation through sibling interaction. Early Education and Development. 25, 160–184. doi:10.1080/10409289.2014.838824.Google Scholar
Ladd, G.W., Ettekal, I., & Kochenderfer-Ladd, B. (2017). Peer victimization trajectories from kindergarten through high school: Differential pathways for children's school engagement and achievement? Journal of Educational Psychology, 109, 826–841. doi:10.1037/edu0000177Google Scholar
Lam, S., Jimerson, S., Wong, B.P.H., Kikas, E., Shin, H., Veiga, F.H., … Zollneritsch, J. (2014). Understanding and measuring student engagement in school: The results of an international study from 12 contries. School Psychology Quarterly, 29, 213–232. doi:10.1037/spq0000057Google Scholar
Ledermann, T., Rudaz, M., & Grob, A. (2017). Analysis of group composition in multimember multigroup data. Personal Relationships, 24, 242–264. doi:10.1111/pere.12176Google Scholar
Li, Y., & Lerner, R.M. (2011). Developmental trajectories of school engagement across adolescence: Implications for academic achievement, substance use, depression, and delinquency. Developmental Psychology, 47, 233–247. doi:10.1037/a0021307Google Scholar
McGuire, S., & Shanahan, L. (2010). Sibling experiences in diverse family contexts. Child Development Perspectives, 4, 72–79. doi: 10.1111/j.1750-8606.2010.00121.xGoogle Scholar
McHale, S.M., Updegraff, K.A., & Whiteman, S.D. (2012). Sibling relationships and influences in childhood and adolescence. Journal of Marriage and Family, 74, 913–930. doi:10.1111/j.1741-3737.2012.01011.xGoogle Scholar
Núñez, J.C., Suárez, N., Rosário, P., Vallejo, G., Valle, A., & Epstein, J.L. (2015). Relationships between perceived parental involvement in homework, student homework behaviors, and academic achievement: Differences among elementary, junior high, and high school students. Metacognition and Learning, 10, 375–406. doi:10.1007/s11409-015-9135-5Google Scholar
Oláh, L.S., Richter, R., & Kotowska, I.E. (2014). The new roles of men and women and implications for families and societies (Report No. 11). Retrieved from http://www.familiesandsocieties.eu/wp-content/uploads/2014/12/WP11OlahEtAl2014.pdfGoogle Scholar
Rosseel, Y. (2012). lavaan: An R package for structural equation modeling. Journal of Statistical Software, 48, 1–36. doi:10.18637/jss.v048.i02Google Scholar
Schachter, F.F., Shore, E., Feldman-Rotman, S., Marquis, R.E., & Campbell, S. (1976). Sibling deidentification. Developmental Psychology, 12, 418–427. doi:10.1037/0012-1649.12.5.418Google Scholar
Schueler, B.E., McIntyre, J.C., & Gehlbach, H. (2018). Measuring parent perceptions of family–school engagement: The development of new survey tools. The School Community Journal, 27, 275–301.Google Scholar
Stoneman, Z., Brody, G.H., & MacKinnon, C.E. (1986). Same-sex and cross-sex siblings: Activity choices, roles, behavior, and gender stereotypes. Sex Roles, 15, 495–511. doi:10.1007/BF00288227Google Scholar
Tan, C.Y. (2017). Do parental attitudes toward and expectations for their children's education and future jobs matter for their children's school achievement? British Educational Research Journal, 43, 1111–1130. doi:10.1002/berj.3303Google Scholar
Tucker, C.J., Barber, B.L., & Eccles, J.S. (1997). Advice about life plans and personal problems in late adolescent sibling relationships. Journal of Youth and Adolescence, 26, 63–76. doi:10.1023/A:1024540228946Google Scholar
Tucker, C.J., McHale, S.M., & Crouter, A.C. (2001). Conditions of sibling support in adolescence. Journal of Family Psychology, 15, 254–271. doi:10.1037/0893-3200.15.2.254Google Scholar
Tucker, C.J., McHale, S.M., & Crouter, A.C. (2008). Links between older and younger adolescent siblings’ adjustment: The moderating role of shared activities. International Journal of Behavioral Development, 32, 152–160. doi:10.1177/0165025407087214Google Scholar
Upadyaya, K., & Salmela-Aro, K. (2013). Development of school engagement in association with academic success and well-being in varying social contexts: A review of empirical research. European Psychologist, 18, 136–147. doi:10.1027/1016-9040/a000143Google Scholar
Upadyaya, K., & Salmela-Aro, K. (2015). Cross-lagged associations between study and work engagement dimensions during young adulthood. Journal of Positive Psychology, 10, 346–358. doi:10.1080/17439760.2014.983958Google Scholar
Updegraff, K.A., McHale, S.M., Whiteman, S.D., Thayer, S.M., & Delgado, M.Y. (2005). Adolescent sibling relationships in Mexican American families: Exploring the role of familism. Journal of Family Psychology, 19, 512–522. doi:10.1037/0893-3200.19.4.512Google Scholar
Wang, M.T., & Degol, J. (2014). Staying engaged: Knowledge and research needs in student engagement. Child Development Perspectives, 8, 137–143. doi:10.1111/cdep.12073Google Scholar
Wang, M.-T., Fredricks, J., Ye, F., Hofkens, T., & Linn, J.S. (2017). Conceptualization and assessment of adolescents’ engagement and disengagement in school: A multidimensional school engagement scale. European Journal of Psychological Assessment. Advance online publication. doi:10.1027/1015-5759/a000431Google Scholar
Ware, W.B., & Garber, M. (1972). The home environment as a predictor of school achievement. Theory Into Practice, 11, 190–195. doi:10.1080/00405847209542394Google Scholar
Whiteman, S.D., McHale, S.M., & Crouter, A.C. (2007). Competing processes of sibling influence: Observational learning and sibling deidentification. Social Development, 16, 642–661. doi:10.1111/j.1467-9507.2007.00409.xGoogle Scholar
Widmer, E.D., & Weiss, C.C. (2000). Do older siblings make a difference? The effects of older sibling support and older sibling adjustment on the adjustment of socially disadvantaged adolescence. Journal of Research on Adolescence, 10, 1–27. doi:10.1207/SJRA1001_1Google Scholar