Relationships between Siblings and their Sibling with a Disability : a cross-sectional study

Abstract

Background: Sibling relationships are one of the most important but often overlooked family relations, impacting emotional growth, social interactions, and overall health. Yet these sibling relationships can be influenced by factors including the type of disability, family composition and socio-economic background when one of them has a disability. Aim: The aim of this study is to identify the relationships between siblings and their siblings with a disability. Methods: The study followed a cross-sectional quantitative study design. Data was collected through a face-to-face survey among 305 participants including siblings and their sibling with a disability. Results: A study on gender, age, family size, disability, education, etc. Results: The findings showed that most of the participants were a male (68.1%), aged between 3–7 years (60.3%), with autism spectrum disorder (38.0%) being the most prevalent disability. Overall, sibling relationships tended to be positive, with high scores on warmth/closeness (M=3.03 ±. 540), and low (M=1.70 ±. 641). They found that families that were bigger than 6 members reported more warmth/closeness. Conclusion: Age, disability type and educational environment made the most difference to sibling relationships, with caregiver education and parent occupation seemingly less influential, the study found. Long-term effects for educational hospital and formulation of caregiver’s education and rehabilitation should be further addressed in future research to improve sibling progress. Implications for practice involve considering the development of family-centric programs that seek to help build sibling relationships. Keywords: Sibling Relationship, Occupational Therapy, Disability, Emotions