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Dr Sarah Killoren of the University of Missouri, who led the study, said: "Our findings indicate that sisters play important roles as adolescent girls form ideas about romantic relationships and sexuality. Sisters are important communication partners when it comes to these sensitive topics."

The discussions helped build a degree of intimacy between the sisters, while the older sibling also acted as a role model by giving advice, and also encouraged their younger sister's ideas about romantic relationships and sexuality.

Most often, teens treated their older sister as a confidant, but in return asked them about their personal lives and claimed to have learned from their mistakes, according to the study in the Family Relations journal.

"Younger sisters frequently commented on their older sisters' negative experiences, such as teen pregnancy and abusive relationships, and made decisions to be different," Dr Killoren said.

"Learning only from negative experiences could occur because younger sisters only consciously identify the experiences of their sisters that they do not want to repeat."