Evaluation of “SIBS”, An Intervention for Siblings and Parents of Children with Chronic Disorders

Abstract

Siblings of children with chronic disorders are at increased risk of experiencing family communication problems and poorer mental health. We assessed initial feasibility, acceptability, and outcomes of SIBS; a manual-based group intervention for siblings and parents of children with chronic disorders, aiming to improve parent-sibling communication and sibling mental health. Ninety-nine siblings aged 8-16 years (M = 11.5 years, SD = 2.0; 54.5% girls) and parents (63.6% mothers) of children with chronic disorders participated in three separate group sessions for siblings and parents and two joint sessions with integrated sibling-parent dialogues. We assessed participant satisfaction post-intervention and checked for group leader manual adherence. We measured the following outcomes at baseline, three, and six months post-intervention in an open trial:(1) parent-sibling communication quality; (2) sibling emotional and behavioral problems; (3) sibling adaptation to the disorder; and (4) sibling disorder knowledge. Using growth curve modeling, we found significant improvement in parentsibling communication quality (p = 0.001), emotional and behavioral problems (p = 0.009), adaptation to the disorder (p = 0.003), and disorder knowledge (p = 0.000) from baseline to follow-up (effect sizes d = 0.22 to 0.64). Improvement in sibling-reported emotional and behavioral problems and adaptation to the disorder was partly explained by communication quality. User satisfaction was high and manual adherence was good. Our evaluation yields support for the SIBS intervention, with initial evidence of acceptability, feasibility, and beneficial outcomes. Our study suggests targeting parent-sibling communication may be a beneficial way of improving siblings' mental health.

Manual-Based Group Intervention for Siblings and Parents of Children with Neurodevelopmental Disorders in Cambodia

“…This is in contrast to norm data from Britain and Australia, on which self-report is typically higher than parent report (Mellor, 2005;Meltzer et al 2003). In the Norwegian SIBS trial, siblings also self-reported more mental health problems than parents (Haukeland et al 2020). Although we do not know the reasons for the difference in sibling self-reported mental health and parent-reported mental health for siblings, discrepancy between child-and parent-report is common, and the norm rather than the exception in child mental health (De Los Reyes 2011).…”

“…The 20-item PSSC-P was rated by caregivers. The PSSC-C/P has demonstrated good psychometric properties with Chronbach's α from .75 to .82 for PCCS (Haukeland et al 2020;Loeber et al 1998).…”

“…Throughout this training process, we held discussions concerning cultural adaptation, meaning of concepts, how to present intervention contents in ways that were meaningful in a Cambodian culture. These workshops were based on video clips from Norwegian sibling groups (translated), presentation of results from an open trial in Norway (Haukeland et al 2020), followed by team discussions and role plays in groups with Caritas-CCAMH staff. Further adaptations were made based on the five pilot groups (unpublished and not part of the data presented herein), for example in terms of practical delivery.…”

“…In the current study we address this gap, by evaluating initial outcomes and feasibility of a brief group intervention for siblings and parents of children with ND developed in Norway, when delivered in Cambodia. The intervention is called SIBS; and has initial evidence from an open trial with 99 families in Norway (Haukeland et al 2020). SIBS has been developed in close collaboration with several user associations and is based on several years of sibling work by a Norwegian consortium (Vatne et al 2019).…”

Group intervention for siblings and parents of children with chronic disorders (SIBS-RCT): study protocol for a randomized controlled trial

“…A preliminary version of the SIBS intervention was piloted with 58 families in 2013 and adapted based on participant feedback (25). The adapted SIBS intervention was then delivered to 107 families in our open trial in collaboration with the national user unions for autism, Down syndrome, cerebral palsy, and congenital heart disease [11]. We made further adaptations (e.g., longer breaks between sessions; removing questionnaires) based on feedback from these unions and participants for the current SIBS-RCT.…”