Sibling Relationship in Families Raising a Child with Chronic Illness as Perceived by Family Caregiver

Document Type : Original Article

Authors

1 Lecturer of Pediatric Health Nursing- Faculty of Nursing- Zagazig University

2 lecturer of Psychiatric and Mental Health Nursing- Faculty of Nursing- Zagazig University

10.12816/0029155

Abstract

Background: Most of the children with chronic illness live in their home, and their
presence impacts family members. Siblings may be especially affected because of the
common cultural milieu and egalitarian nature of their relationships. The aim of the study
was to assess caregiver perception of sibling relationships in families raising a child with
chronic illness. Setting: It was conducted at the outpatient clinic of Zagazige University
hospital and Altarbia Alfekeria school at Zagazig city. Subjects: The respondents were
composed of caregivers of 108 families who have a child with chronic condition. Tool: One
tool was used to collect the necessary data. It composed of two parts an interview
questionnaire sheet and the Sibling Inventory Behavior (SIB) were used for data collection.
The tools consisted of two parts; the first part was used to assess the socio-demographic
characteristics of children and their families, the second part used to assess sibling
relationships in families with a handicapped child. Results: the result of the study showed
that, companionship, empathy, teaching/managing has high percentage among sibling of
children with diabetes than those with Down syndrome and Autism as rated by the
caregivers. The study also showed that caregivers perceived that there was more
companionship behavior among the older siblings than the younger ones, while younger
siblings had avoidant behavior towards a child with a chronic condition than the older
siblings. Conclusion, this study showed some differences in perception of sibling
relationships according to type of chronic condition. It is recommended that, Observational
methods might be used in future research to assess sibling relationships.

Keywords