Discuss sibling rivalry in middle childhood. What steps can parents take to reduce it?

What will be an ideal response?

Sibling rivalry tends to increase in middle childhood. As children participate in a wider range of activities, parents often compare siblings' traits and accomplishments. The child who gets less parental affection, more disapproval, or fewer material resources is likely to be resentful and show poorer adjustment. For same-sex siblings who are close in age, parental comparisons are more frequent, resulting in more antagonism. This effect is particularly strong when parents are under stress as a result of financial worries, marital conflict, single parenthood, or child negativity. Parents whose energies are drained become less careful about being fair. To reduce this rivalry, siblings often strive to be different from one another. Parents can limit the effects of rivalry by making an effort not to compare children, but some feedback about their competencies is inevitable. As siblings strive to win recognition for their own uniqueness, they shape important aspects of each other's development. Although conflict rises, school-age siblings continue to rely on each other for companionship and support. But for siblings to reap these benefits, parental encouragement of warm, considerate sibling ties is vital. The more positive their relationship, the more siblings resolve disagreements constructively, provide each other with various forms of assistance, and contribute to resilience in the face of major stressors, such as parental divorce. When siblings get along well, the older sibling's academic and social competence tends to "rub off on" the younger sibling, fostering more favorable achievement and peer relations. But destructive sibling conflict in middle childhood is associated with negative outcomes, including conflict-ridden peer relationships, anxiety, depressed mood, and later substance use and delinquency, even after other family relationship factors are controlled.