ISU psychology clinic seeks families to participate in sibling aggression study

The Idaho State University Psychology Clinic is looking for families to join their research study. The topic? Families with fighting siblings. The doctoral student in charge of the study said they are specifically looking for siblings between the ages of four and twelve for the study.

“Things like they push each other, throw things at each other, they are physically aggressive towards each other. We are looking to help those families out by giving them some strategies to help them manage those conflicts in the home,” said Stephanie Babbit, an ISU clinical psychology doctoral student.

The study allows ISU staff to work with families in the community and collect data on how those kids behavior improves after the intervention.

Babbit said families track aggression levels in their homes during the program. Most of them see a decline in aggression.

Babbit said they have a theory that some kids are aggressive because they do not know how else to act.

“We suspect their is a sub-group of kids that are aggressive because they don’t have any other tools in their toolbox,” commented Babbit.

Children in the program can learn how to resolve common sibling conflicts, like personal space issues and disagreements. The initial two evaluation sessions that determine eligibility for the project are free. Eligible families are asked to participate in five treatment sessions and two post-treatment evaluation sessions. If the families complete the whole program, they will not be charged any research fees.

Interested families can contact the ISU Psychology Clinic at 208-282-2129 for more information.