Siblings and Friends: The Changing Nature of Children's Lateral Relationships Dataset

What is the significance of sisters and brothers, and friends, in the lives of children and young people? Do such relationships change over time? This project tracked the lives of fifty children from mid-childhood to young adulthood to help answer these questions. It provided a valuable qualitative longitudinal dataset that documents the meanings, experiences and flows of children's prescribed (sibling) and chosen (friendship) relationships. Drawing on varied samples of children from three previous studies (2003-5), living in different UK localities, the project explored how such relationships connect to young people's sense of self as their individual and family biographies unfold. Follow up interviews were conducted in 2007 and 2009.