BECE. Newsletter 

Vol.13, No.1, 2023 1691 

 

 

 

 

The Effect of Maternal Coping Strategies for Sibling 

Disputes on Sibling Relationships among Preschool 

Children in Two Child Families 

By Xu, L., Tian, P. P., & Hong, X. M. 
Correspondence to: Xiumin Hong, Beijing Normal University, China. E-mail: 

xiuminhong@163.com  

IBLING relationships are long-lasting kinship which can tremendously 

influence a child across his or her life span. The sibling relationship re-

search has drawn increased attention in China in the wake of the implementa-

tion of the Comprehensive Three Child Policy.  

Child-, family-, school-, and society-related factors may all impact 

sibling relationships. Family-related factors include parents’ marital relation-

ship, parent-child relationship, parenting style, and parental coping strategies 

for sibling disputes. Preschool childhood is a pivotal stage in a child’s devel-

opment and a vulnerable phase in sibling interactions. The mother is the 

main caregiver of her children in the early childhood, and competition for 

maternal attention is one cause of sibling disputes. This study attempted to 

explore maternal coping strategies for sibling conflicts and their impact on 

sibling relationships among preschool children. It randomly selected 125 

mothers with children in three public kindergartens in Beijing as the research 

subjects. The children were aged between three and six with inter-sibling age 

gaps of 1-12 years. All mothers sampled have given birth to two children. 

Preschool Children’s Sibling Relationship Questionnaire and Maternal Cop-

ing Strategies for Sibling Conflicts Questionnaire were the measurement 

tools in the study. 

According to the research findings, among maternal perceptions of 

children’ sibling relationships, warmth scored the highest in mean value, fol-

lowed by competition and confrontation. In terms of mothers’ coping strate-

gies for sibling conflicts, the child-centered approach scored the highest, fol-

lowed by approaches of control and non- intervention. Regarding the asso-

ciation between the maternal coping strategy for sibling disputes and sibling 

relationship, it was found that the child-centered approach effectively pre-

dicted sibling warmth; and that there were significant and positive correla-

tions between maternal control and non-intervention and sibling competition 

and confrontation. Therefore, the mother’ attitudes towards sibling conflicts 

are closely related to sibling relationships between her children. The moth-

er’s positive approaches were conducive to the formation of warm relation-

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mailto:xiuminhong@163.com


 

Vol.13, No.1, 2023 1692 

ships between siblings, whilst her negative approaches were more likely to 

induce sibling competition and confrontation. Parents should increase their 

knowledge about how to deal with sibling disputes and help their children 

acquire the ability to get on well with their siblings and learn how to interact 

with peers through sibling conflicts. 

 

Source: Journal of Capital Normal University, 2022; 2022(4):163-171.