Exploring the association between sibling relationship quality, parenting styles, and theory-of-mind development in Chinese young adolescents: a preliminary analysis

Thesis

Siblings’ influence has often been overshadowed globally by other family factors. This research gap is especially pronounced in China, largely due to the four-decade-long One-Child policy. To date, only one study by Hou et al. (2022) has examined the role of sibling relationship quality (SRQ) in the theory of mind (ToM) development among Chinese children. Since this study, along with previous research predominantly from Western cultures, has focused on preschoolers, the present study sought to employ a cross-sectional, multimethod, multi-informant correlational design to verify the relationship between Chinese young adolescents’ SRQ and ToM performance. Furthermore, this study incorporated parenting styles as a parental factor, which has been demonstrated to influence both SRQ and ToM. Consequently, the second aim of this research was to explore the parenting-ToM and parenting-SRQ correlations. Lastly, the study also assessed the associations between sibling structures (number of siblings, birth order, age gap, gender composition) and ToM.

Thirty families (comprising 30 young adolescents aged 11-12 years, their 30 siblings, and 30 parents) participated in individual online research sessions, with one family per session. In each session, the SRQ was gauged through questionnaires completed by both children in the sibling pair, as well as by researcher observations during a cooperative drawing game called Etch-a-Sketch Online. The ToM skills of the young adolescents were evaluated using the performance-based task, Strange Stories. Parenting styles were explored through interviews.

This study found that young adolescents’ self-rated sibling intimacy was negatively associated with cognitive ToM. In contrast, the parents’ strategy of referring to their own feelings when addressing social incidents with children, termed as Parent Emotions, was positively correlated with cognitive ToM scores. Moreover, when accounting for the Parent Emotions strategy, the self-rated sibling intimacy remained a significant predictor of cognitive ToM. Young adolescents with parents who often employed the Active Non-interference strategy (i.e., non-involvement based on trust in children) scored higher on emotional ToM tasks, while those with parents favouring Practical Solutions (i.e., taking direct action to solve conflicts without discussing with children) scored lower. Further, the study revealed that parents who frequently used Active Non-interference had children with more negatively observed SRQ by researchers. In terms of demographic information, all sibling structure variables showed no correlation with ToM abilities. However, the parents’ sibling status (with versus without siblings) was found to be related to their parenting styles. This study not only bridges the research gap but also offers insightful avenues for future research.

Authors: Shi, Y

• DOI: 10.5287/ora-kqy9ppggd
• Type of award: MSc taught course
• Level of award: Masters
• Awarding institution: University of Oxford
• Language: English
• Keywords: interview; theory of mind; observation; Chinese siblings; parenting