Mothers' and children's expectations for adolescence: The impact of perceptions of an older sibling's experience.

For both mothers and children, the quality of experience with an older child/sibling was a better predictor of target-based expectations for the young adolescent than was the simple presence or absence of an older sibling.

Abstract

The present study examined the role of perceived experience with an older child in mothers' expectations for subsequent children's adolescence as well as the impact of perceived experience with an older sibling on young adolescent children's expectations for their own adolescence. Participants were 305 sixth- and seventh-grade adolescents and 287 of their mothers. Participants were interviewed via telephone. For both mothers and children, the quality of experience with an older child/sibling was a better predictor of target-based expectations for the young adolescent than was the simple presence or absence of an older sibling. In some cases the link between quality of experience with an earlier born adolescent and mothers' expectations for the target child's adolescence was modified by the target child's temperament. In general, the results support a modeling hypothesis.