Aggression and Violent Behavior: 'An understudied form of intra-family violence: sibling-to-sibling aggression among foster children'.

Linares, L. Oriana

11:1, pp 95-109, January/February 2006, USA

Foster children are at high risk of perpetrating and of being victims of sibling aggression and violence. This article proposes an integrative, multidimensional model for studying risk and protective factors of sibling violence. In the model, exposure to sibling violence (perpetration and victimisation), child mental disorder and placement characteristics are risk factors for impaired psychological functioning (internalising and externalising symptoms) and for disruptions in school competence (scholastic and social competence with classmates). Sibling positivity, quality of the foster caregiving and foster rejecting caregiving are proposed as moderating processes in the linkage between exposure to sibling violence and impaired psychological functioning. Preliminary data are presented in support of the proposed model.