The diabetic child and well sibling: Risks to the well child's self‐concept

The Sibling Center: A Pilot Program for Siblings of Children and Adolescents with a Serious Medical Condition

“…[2][3][4][5][6][7][8][9] Serious long-term effects were noted in a sample of 75 adults who had grown up with a sibling affected by cystic fibrosis, including survival guilt; global anxiety; fear of an early death for themselves; fear of intimacy; excessive concerns for others; heightened sense of vulnerability; somatic expressions, including headaches, ulcers, or ''identification illnesses'' that mirror symptoms of cystic fibrosis; and sleeping difficulties, including severe nightmares. 10,11 Psychosocial issues for siblings include resentment, anger, anxiety, depression, jealousy, and guilt; fear of the patient's death; fear of their own death; psychologic and physical isolation from parents; and behavioral problems.…”

“…[11][12][13][14][15] Certain subsets of children are at increased risk for adjustment problems. 3,16,17 Family Communication Many families with a chronically ill child tend not to communicate about the disease. 11, [18][19][20][21][22][23][24] The demand of keeping a family secret is a heavy burden for a young sibling and can threaten healthy development.…”

The Self-Concept of Siblings of Handicapped Children: A Comparison

“…There are few empirical studies of the selfconcept of siblings of handicapped children, and their results are conflicting. Some studies have found a lower than average selfconcept in siblings of physically handicapped children (Harvey & Greenway, 1984) and of diabetic children (Ferrari, 1987).…”

“…The influence of these variables on a sibling's self-concept is less clear. For example, the effect of sex has been found to be negligible (Ferrari, 1987;Lobato et al, 1987) and the impact of birth order also not significant in studies of siblings of handicapped children (Ferrari, 1984;1987). Likewise, family socioeconomic status (SES) has been related to the psychological func-tioning of handicapped children (Gath, 1973) but not to self-concept (Lobato et al, 1987).…”

“…These include a lack of a control group (e.g., Gayton, Friedman, & Tavormina, 1977), inadequate control for sex and age, and unequal sample size (e.g., Harvey & Greenway, 1984). More stringent experimental control was applied by Ferrari (1984;1987) and Lobato et al (1987), yet conflict. ing results remain.…”