Conflict And Harmony In Siblinghood: Drawing’s Contribution To Research On Interpersonal Relationships

While the importance of siblinghood across the lifespan is widely recognized, less explored are the characteristics of that relationship when in the fraternal dyad one of the partners has an atypical developmental pattern. The present study aimed to investigate the quality of the sibling relationship through the concurrent use of a verbal instrument, the Sibling Relationship Inventory (Lecce et al. 2005; Stocker e McHale,1992), and a graphical instrument, Pictorial Assessment of Interpersonal Relationships (PAIR, Bombi et al. 2007). 20 siblings aged 5 to 17 with typical and atypical development completed the SRI and were asked to draw themselves with their siblings in a condition of harmony and conflict. The relational dimensions measured are Affection and Rivalry, the degree of Similarity, Balance of values, Cohesion and Emotional tuning perceived by the partners. Statistical analyses show similarities and peculiarities between the representations of siblinghood of dyads in which one of the partners presents developmental atypicalities and dyads in which such atypicalities are absent. The respective contributions of the verbal tool and the pictorial tool for accessing representations of peer relationships throughout development are discussed.