Factors that May Affect the Health of Siblings of Children Who Have an Intellectual/Developmental Disability

Abstract

There are growing a number of children with an intellectual disability (ID). There is also evidence of poor health in the nondisabled siblings of these children; indicating a possible need for policies and services to address a complex health issue. This article describes a narrative review of the literature regarding the mental and physical health of siblings of children who have an intellectual disability. The review examined 46 articles. Twenty-one different factors were identified which may have an effect on the health of these siblings. Social determinants, individual variables, characteristics of the child with the disability, family characteristics, and support factors can all affect health. These variables are inter-related and illustrate the need to account for complexity when studying the health of siblings of children who have an ID.

A population-level study of the mental health of siblings of children who have a developmental disability

“…Conflicting findings may be due to methodological differences among studies (Marquis et al, 2019; Stoneman, 2009). Studies often have differing theoretical underpinnings and/or interests of the researchers (Hodapp, Glidden, & Kaiser, 2005; Stoneman, 1993, 2005, 2009); differ in outcome measures (Constantino et al, 2006; Dempsey et al, 2012; Griffith, Hastings, & Petalas, 2014; Hogan et al, 2003; Nixon & Cummings, 1999; Stoneman, 1993, 2009); differ in the type of disability examined and how DD is defined (Marquis et al, 2019); and use differing measurement tools (Marquis et al, 2019).…”

“…Within the literature there is evidence that having a sibling with a developmental disability (DD) may affect siblings who do not have a DD (Marquis, Hayes, & McGrail, 2019). Studies have examined effects upon sibling wellbeing (Emerson & Giallo, 2014), stress (Nixon & Cummings, 1999), adjustment (Giallo & Gavidia-Payne, 2006), anxiety (Pollard, Barry, Freedman, & Kotchick, 2013), physical health (Hogan, Park, & Goldscheider, 2003), behavior (Platt, Roper, Mandleco, & Freeborn, 2014) and mental health (Giallo, Gavidia-Payne, Minett, & Kapoor, 2012; Goudie, Havercamp, Jamieson, & Sahr, 2013; Lovell & Wetherell, 2016).…”

“…Studies have examined effects upon sibling wellbeing (Emerson & Giallo, 2014), stress (Nixon & Cummings, 1999), adjustment (Giallo & Gavidia-Payne, 2006), anxiety (Pollard, Barry, Freedman, & Kotchick, 2013), physical health (Hogan, Park, & Goldscheider, 2003), behavior (Platt, Roper, Mandleco, & Freeborn, 2014) and mental health (Giallo, Gavidia-Payne, Minett, & Kapoor, 2012; Goudie, Havercamp, Jamieson, & Sahr, 2013; Lovell & Wetherell, 2016). However, findings have often been conflicting (Marquis et al, 2019), with some studies reporting no deleterious effect upon siblings (Cuskelly & Gunn, 2006; Dempsey, Llorens, Brewton, Mulchandani, & Goin-Kochel, 2012; Tomeny, Barry, & Bader, 2012), some reporting a positive effect upon siblings (Connors & Stalker, 2003) and some reporting negative effects (Constantino et al, 2006; Hogan et al, 2003).…”

“…Studies often have differing theoretical underpinnings and/or interests of the researchers (Hodapp, Glidden, & Kaiser, 2005; Stoneman, 1993, 2005, 2009); differ in outcome measures (Constantino et al, 2006; Dempsey et al, 2012; Griffith, Hastings, & Petalas, 2014; Hogan et al, 2003; Nixon & Cummings, 1999; Stoneman, 1993, 2009); differ in the type of disability examined and how DD is defined (Marquis et al, 2019); and use differing measurement tools (Marquis et al, 2019). In addition, studies of siblings of children with a DD have often been limited by methodological issues of small sample size (Burke & Fujiura, 2013; Hodapp et al, 2005), the practice of combining different types of DD to increase sample size (Marquis et al, 2019), convenience sampling (Burke & Fujiura, 2013), availability and use of an appropriate control group (Hodapp et al, 2005; Stoneman, 2009), lack of accurate data on the incidence and prevalence of DD (Fujiura, Rutkowski-Kmitta, & Owen, 2010; Lin et al, 2013, 2014), reliance upon self-reports (Marquis et al, 2019), and whether or not the study included variables other than having/not having a sibling with a DD (Marquis et al, 2019; Rossiter & Sharpe, 2001).…”

Application of Eco-Friendly Waterborne Polyurethane Composite Coating Incorporated with Nano Cellulose Crystalline and Silver Nano Particles on Wood Antibacterial Board

“…More studies have shown that many daily necessities that people frequently contact with during indoor activities have a variety of harmful pathogenic bacteria. The indoor furniture and finishing materials are the main transmission and survival media of microorganisms and bacteria that can affect human health in this atmosphere, and their common parts are also very easy to cause cross-infection [6,7]. In recent years, people's health requirements for the indoor environment have risen from the initial safety and environmental protection of raw materials to the height of antibacterial and bactericidal furniture surface.…”