Older Siblings in Everyday Family Life : Young people’s reflections on agency and participation in childhood: A qualitative study

Sammanfattning

This qualitative study explores how young people aged 16 to 20 describe and interpret their experiences of being older siblings during childhood. Three research questions guided the study concerning how participants describe the older sibling role, what daily activities and expectations they associate with it, and how they reflect on their agency when looking back. Six semi-structured interviews were conducted and analysed thematically within a relational framework drawn from the new sociology of childhood. Four themes emerged: the older sibling as a quasi-parent; responsibility as expected and internalised part of siblinghood; emotional pressure, ambivalence and reduced childhood freedom; and negotiating voice and influence within the family. Participants described their role as a hybrid blend of caregiving, authority, friendship and emotional support, with responsibility communicated both directly by parents and through internalisation. The findings reveal a fundamental paradox: participants experienced meaningful closeness and growing influence within their families, yet also reported emotional strain, restricted personal freedom and a sense of having matured too quickly. Agency can thus be understood as conditional and relationally produced, dependent on recognition from parents rather than individual assertiveness alone. The study contributes to sibling literature by showing that older sibling roles are not fixed by birth order but are relationally negotiated and reinterpreted over time.