PERCEPCIJA KVALITETE ODNOSA SA SESTROM U MLAĐIH ADOLESCENATA.

Most people grow up in a family with at least one brother or a sister. The relationship between siblings can be marked with rivalry and conflict, but it can also be one of the closest and most intimate relationships that a person has in childhood, adolescence, and adulthood. Unlike parentchild relationships and children's peer relationships, there is far less empirical research related to the study of sibling relationships which is very surprising given that it is the longest relationship of an individual's life. With the exception of a research on a group of adults, in our country, as we know, there was no systematic study of this relationship in the early stages of development. Accordingly, the aim of the study was to assess the quality of relationships with older or younger sister, in early adolescence. Participants in this study were 352 adolescents (192 girls and 160 boys) ranging in age from 13 to 15. The mean age of the participants was 13.9 years. Adolescent assessed the relationship with the sister who is 1-5 years older or younger than them. One subgroup of respondents assessed the relationship with older sister (N = 181) and the other with a younger sister (N = 171). The data were collected by anonymous self-report questionnaire containing the measures of the children's perception of quality of sibling relationship. Results of the analysis of gender differences indicate that compared to boys, girls perceive significantly more intimacy, cooperation, friendship and similarities in relationship with their sister. There were no significant differences between boys and girls on measures of negative aspects of the sibling relationship. Age difference proved to be significant in almost all measures of the quality of sibling relationship. In accordance with the assumptions, adolescents and early adolescence have better relations with their older sister. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]