Got brothers or sisters? Warm sibling bonds help booster happiness as you age

(Lily Padula for NPR)

The Science of Siblings is a new NPR series exploring the ways our siblings can influence us, from our money and our mental health all the way down to our very molecules.

Many of us have up and down relationships with our siblings. And those relationships can be most intense during adolescence.

I remember as a teenager all the ways my older sister reminded me she was in charge, like when she got her driver’s license and insisted that I sit in the back seat when we picked up her friend, Pam, who got to sit up front. It was really, really annoying.