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AM 820's Dr. Liz Hale ReportingA new study out of BYU shows how much of an impact a "bad apple" sibling can have on younger siblings.
For good or bad, older siblings can have a big influence on their younger siblings, but when it comes to delinquent older brothers, parents need to pay careful attention to the interaction.
BYU sociologist Bert Burraston followed 105 young men at risk for delinquency and their younger siblings for 11 years. The older brothers often brought other delinquents into home and were more likely to hit and argue with other siblings.
Burraston says these two behaviors increased the likelihood the younger siblings would participate in antisocial behavior by 25 percent.
Bert Burraston, BYU Sociologist: "Parenting is important, but it has an indirect effect on the younger siblings. The things that we found is sibling negative interaction when they were young has a tremendous impact on anti- social development."
This study is published in the new issue of the "Journal of Family Psychology."
