Profiles of sibling relationships among Chinese adolescents: The contribution of parental differential treatment of siblings

Since the implementation of multi-child policies in China, the proportion of multi-child families has increased, making sibling relationships a critical issue. The present study used latent profile analysis to identify distinct profiles of sibling relationships among Chinese adolescents. The associations between maternal and paternal differential treatment and children's membership in specific profiles were also examined. A sample of 1553 Chinese adolescents (M_age = 13.28, 48.1% boys) with at least one sibling revealed five subgroups: positive, conflicting, average, moderately negative, and highly negative groups. Results also showed that adolescents experiencing a high degree of maternal differential treatment were more likely to belong to the highly negative group, while paternal differential treatment had no significant associations. These findings highlighted the heterogeneity of sibling relationships and the important contribution of maternal differential treatment in shaping sibling dynamics, which offered valuable insights for enhancing the well-being of multi-child families.