SIBLING VIOLENCE AND PSYCHOLOGICAL ADJUSTMENT - THE ROLE OF MATERNAL AUTHORITATIVENESS, MALADAPTIVE COPING, AND HARM ATTRIBUTIONS

Abstract

This study examines the prevalence of sibling violence in Singapore, and the role that maternal authoritativeness, maladaptive coping, and harm attribution play within the relationship of sibling violence and later psychological adjustment. Questionnaires were administered to 287 female and 128 male Singaporean college students, with ages ranging from 18-27. Results showed that both lifetime and past year prevalence of sibling violence in Singapore was high, at 89.9% and 62.4% respectively. Maternal authoritativeness functioned as a moderator, whereby high levels of authoritativeness facilitated the relationship between past year violence exposure and psychological adjustment. At low levels of authoritativeness, this relationship did not hold. Maladaptive coping was found to be a mediator of the relationship between past year violence exposure and psychological adjustment. Lastly, harm attribution functioned both as a moderator and mediator regarding the relationship between past year victimization frequency and psychological adjustment. As a moderator, there was a significant relationship between past year victimization frequency and psychological adjustment when harm attribution was high. These findings contribute to a better understanding of the phenomenon of sibling violence, and also opens up new avenues for interventions to try and reduce sibling violence's adverse effects. Limitations and future directions are also discussed.