With the growing life expectancy for individuals with intellectual and developmental disabilities, siblings will increasingly assume responsibility for the care of their brother or sister with intellectual and developmental disabilities. Using a 163-item survey completed by 757 siblings, the authors identified factors related to future caregiving expectations. Siblings expected to assume greater caregiving responsibility for their brother or sister with disabilities if they were female, had closer relationships with and lived closer to their brother or sister with intellectual and developmental disabilities, and were the lone sibling without a disability. Siblings who expected to assume higher levels of caregiving had parents who were currently more able to care for their brother or sister with disabilities. With a better understanding of who intends to fulfill future caregiving roles, support can be provided to these siblings.

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Chronic stressors can wear down the body, particularly the cardiovascular, immune, and gastrointestinal systems. So far, increased rates of caregiver health problems have been linked to caring for an elderly parent or for a child with recurrent cancer. Parents of children with I/DD also more often encounter severe, chronic stressors, particularly those involving child behavior problems and extreme caregiving need. These child characteristics, especially for older parents or for parents of children with certain conditions (e.g. spina bifida), may adversely affect parental health. More research is needed to explore stress-health connections among parents of children with I/DD, as well as the clinical and policy implications of such findings.