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If you are a sibling of someone with a disabilty and want somewhere to vioce your thoughts, check out this website Your Shout. A recent study released by Swinburne University shows siblings of severely ill children may struggle to cope. Click heading to read more.
Brothers and sisters of children with a severe disability or chronic illness are more likely to have behavioural problems than their peers with well siblings. Psychologist Meredith Rayner conducted a study of families with a chronically ill child as part of her PhD at Swinburne. “There hadn’t been much research in Australia into what was happening, and we wanted to see if we could help,” Rayner said. “Some children cope really well, but others don’t do well at all.”
Rayner used information from more than one hundred children, aged between seven and 18, from seventy-seven families. The children completed a questionnaire which assessed their worries, anxieties and problems. Their parents also took part.
“We found that some siblings in families with chronically ill children are more aggressive, more anxious and have many more problem behaviours, such as rule breaking at school or home, depression and withdrawal, compared to population norms.” Rayner said.
Another major finding was a link between the behaviour of the child with illness or disability and that of the well child. Where the ill child had behavioural problems, there were often problems for the well sibling. “In the past research has suggested that problems for siblings are related to the medical situation of the ill child, but the study suggests something more,” Rayner said.
Low income and the parents’ level of stress also come into play with siblings from families with lower levels of stress and greater access to resources appearing to do better.
The research sample was largely of a high socio-economic status, and Rayner is concerned about other families. “If this is the case for children where parents can access support and have good resources available to them, what must it be like for parents who aren’t well resourced?” she said.
Rayner also suggested there could be a cycle of stress. “Parents who are highly stressed could cause children to behave in more difficult ways, but if that’s difficult for parents to manage, that increases their stress,” she said.
In the study, the siblings did not always admit to their problems or realise they were suffering. “The children scored quite highly on the social desirability measure which tests whether they were telling us what they thought we wanted to hear. This suggests they find it hard to talk about,” Rayner said.
The study looked at the implications for care and found that current programs for siblings centre on involving them in other activities away from the family. Rayner suggested more is required.
“What’s needed is time for parents to spend with the well children to build those relationships together. Reviewing respite care and support options for parents would help that a great deal, as well as addressing parents’ stress and the financial burden.” See full article here. |
