Date of Award

2008

Document Type

Dissertation

Degree Name

Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)

Department

Psychology

Abstract

This study examined how the variables of deafness and family environment affect the quality of the sibling relationship. Specifically, the author explored how the presence or absence of deafness in a sibling interacted with the family environment, and impacted the quality of the sibling relationship. Research on the impact of deafness on families and sibling relationships has shown mixed results. Many different variables have been included in past research, such as age and sex of siblings, birth order, and family size. However, relatively few researchers have focused on the dynamics of the family environment and how that influences the sibling relationship. The current study comprised 60 teenaged participants; half had a deaf sibling, and half had a hearing sibling. Participants completed the Sibling Relationship Questionnaire, the Family Adaptability and Cohesion Evaluation Scales-IV, and a demographic questionnaire via the Internet. A multivariate analysis of variance was conducted to explore the impact of the independent variables (i.e., presence or absence of deafness and positive or negative family environment) on the dependent variable of quality of the sibling relationship (as measured by intimacy, affection, nurturance by the sibling, companionship, competition, antagonism, and quarreling). The type of family environment was statistically significant, as was the interaction between family type and presence or absence of deafness. The presence or absence of deafness was not statistically significant in itself, but was impacted by the family environment. The interaction effects in this study indicated that families with positive family environments experienced more positive sibling relationships compared to families with negative family environments. However, in a few cases, families with negative environments actually saw an increase in sibling relationship quality in the deaf-hearing group specifically.

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