What Changes During Adolescence?

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Older siblings can serve as a trusted resource for support, information, and help for teenagers.

Younger siblings can benefit from older siblings’ knowledge and experience with friends, school, and dating.

A close relationship with an older sibling is associated with teenagers’ greater well-being.

Adolescence is an important time when young people seek independence from their parents, focusing on friends and romantic partners and figuring out who they want to be. As teens navigate these important developmental tasks, they will learn and grow with the help of others. For adolescents with an older sibling, that sibling can be an important, trusted family resource who helps guide them during this developmental period.

While siblings do spend less time together during adolescence, they remain an important and influential relationship for youths' social, emotional, and cognitive development. In fact, adolescents report sharing and discussing personal information and thoughts with their siblings daily. Although older siblings are not always a positive influence, they can play a beneficial role in the lives of younger siblings during adolescence.

Older Siblings as an Important Family Resource

In the United States, most siblings are about two years apart in age, creating likely similarities in their life experiences. These similarities, along with siblings’ shared family history and special understanding of one another, can make an older sibling an ideal resource........

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