Related Experiment Videos
Psychologic functioning of siblings of disabled children
Insights
Siblings of children with chronic health conditions, including cystic fibrosis and cerebral palsy, showed no overall increase in psychiatric issues. However, they exhibited higher rates of mentation problems, fighting, and delinquency compared to the general population.
Area of Science:
- Child Psychology
- Pediatric Health
- Family Studies
Background:
- Families with children diagnosed with chronic conditions like cystic fibrosis, cerebral palsy, myelodysplasia, and multiple handicaps often face unique challenges.
- Understanding the psychological impact on non-disabled siblings is crucial for comprehensive family care.
- Previous research has explored parental stress but sibling well-being requires further investigation.
Purpose of the Study:
- To assess the psychological functioning of siblings aged 6 to 18 years who have a brother or sister with significant disabilities.
- To compare the psychiatric screening scores of these siblings with a general population sample.
- To identify factors, such as diagnostic category, disability level, sex, age, and birth order, that may influence sibling psychological outcomes.
Main Methods:
- A cross-sectional study involving 239 families with pediatric patients and normal siblings (aged 6-18) from two teaching hospitals.
- Mothers completed the Psychiatric Screening Inventory for a randomly selected sibling.
- Sibling scores were compared to data from 1,034 children from a Manhattan household sample.
Main Results:
- The overall proportion of siblings with serious psychological impairment did not significantly differ from the general population sample.
- Siblings scored significantly higher on specific subscales related to mentation problems, fighting, and delinquency.
- No significant effects were found based on the disabled child's diagnosis, disability level, sibling's sex, or age. Birth order showed a significant interaction with sex regarding psychiatric impairment.
Conclusions:
- While siblings of children with disabilities do not show increased overall psychiatric impairment, specific behavioral and mentation challenges warrant attention.
- Targeted support may be beneficial for siblings exhibiting higher scores in problem behaviors and mentation issues.
- Further research into the interplay of birth order, sex, and psychiatric outcomes is recommended.
Abstract:
This paper reports findings from a comprehensive study of families of pediatric patients with cystic fibrosis, cerebral palsy, myelodysplasia, and multiple handicaps receiving care in clinics of two teaching hospitals in Cleveland. In 239 families with normal siblings 6 to 18 years old, mothers completed the Psychiatric Screening Inventory for a randomly selected sibling in this age group. Results were compared to data on 1,034 randomly selected children from a cross-section of Manhattan households. The proportion of siblings with serious impairment was not significantly different from the Manhattan sample. Although on the total inventory siblings did not score significantly higher than the comparison sample, they did score significantly higher on the mentation problems, fighting, and delinquency subscales. The diagnostic categories of the disabled children had no significant effect on siblings' scores, nor did level of disability. Neither siblings' sex nor age bore any relationship to their psychologic functioning. A sibling's birth order in relation to the disabled child had a significant interaction effect with sex on psychiatric impairment. Little relationship was found between a mother's perceived effects of caring for a disabled child on attention to siblings and sibling's disorder.