Researchers said that intervention by parents can cause long-term emotional damage and found the best thing they can do is set clear household ground rules for their youngsters, the 'Daily Mail' reported.
"Although parents may be inclined to step in as arbiters, previous research has found that parents' interventions into adolescent sibling conflict can be detrimental," Nicole Campione-Barr, from the University of Missouri, said.
"In concert with those prior findings, we believe our research suggests that setting household rules such as 'knock before entering a sibling's room', can be the best means for parents to resolve disputes and avoid appearing to play favourites.
"A calendar of chores and defined time limits for turns with a video game can help reduce conflicts. However, if a parent notes that one child consistently gets the short end of the stick, action should be taken to ensure one child isn't being too subordinate," said Campione-Barr.
Researchers studied 145 pairs of European and American, middle-class siblings in their early teens over a year. The participants were asked about the frequency and intensity of their disputes.
They found quarrels could be grouped into two categories - equality and fairness, such as whose turn it is to do the washing up, or invasion of personal space, borrowing clothes without asking being a prime example.
Psychologists then looked at correlations between the teens' reported feelings of depression, anxiety and low self esteem a year later.
"Our results show that conflicts about violations of personal space and property are associated with greater anxiety and lower self-esteem one year later.
"Conflicts over issues of equality and fairness are correlated to greater depression one year later," Campione-Barr said.
