Barbara OcklenburgGeschwisterbeziehungen im Alter

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A qualitative study on effects of critical life events

Sibling relationships typically last longer than relationships to parents, life partners, or friends; they thus represent the longest social relationships of a person. They are shaped by parental behavior, environment, age, and gender. Over the course of the lifespan, siblings can support each other or carry out conflicts and rivalry.

Critical life events substantially alter life as it used to be. The present thesis examines whether critical life events affect sibling relationships in a positive or negative manner, or not at all. This work addresses a gap in the German language literature on sibling relationships in older age. We investigated if there are facilitatory or inhibitory factors that manifest in different types of sibling relationships. Especially in older age, sibling relationships can play an important role for the oftentimes shrinking social network of a person, substantially contributing to well-being and life satisfaction.

23 volunteer participants (retirees) with at least one living sibling were interviewed. The results show great complexity and variability of sibling relationships. The impact of critical life events varies as a function of the specific quality of the relationship (positive, negative, or loyal). For positive sibling relationships, critical life events can lead to increased closeness or continuation of the relationship as it was prior to the event. Loyal relationships hardly change. Critical life events do not lead to increased closeness for negative relationships.

Overall, the present findings thus show a link between the type of sibling relationship and the impact of critical life events. Analysis of facilitatory and inhibitory effects on relationship quality pointed to a critical role of parental behavior during childhood. Over the lifespan, matching or similar interest, mutual support, shared experiences, the role of life partners, and active relationship creation are relevant factors that impact relationship quality.

Ihr Werk im Verlag Dr. Kovač

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