Adjustment, sibling problems and coping strategies of brothers and sisters of children with autistic spectrum disorder (original) (raw)
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Socio-Behavioral Development in Siblings of Autistic Children; A Comparative Case-Control Study
Caspian Journal of Health Research
Background: Autism spectrum disorder (ASD) is a psychiatric disorder with a spectrum of symptoms, including impaired social interactions, impaired verbal and non-verbal communications, and limited and repetitive patterns of behaviors. The incidence of social and emotional disorders in siblings of an autistic child and relationship with having an autistic sibling is a matter of debate. The current study is aimed to assess the socio-behavioral development in the sibling of an autistic child (Sib-A). Methods: The current case-control study has been conducted on 51 Sib-A and 138 children without any autistic sibling (Sib-H). In order to assess social development, the Social Responsiveness Scale (SRS) that consists of 5 subscales of social awareness, social cognition, social communication, social motivation, and restricted interests and behavior was used. The behavioral status was assessed using the Strength and difficulties questionnaire (SDQ) in 5 subscales of emotional symptoms, conduct problems, hyperactivity, peer communications problems, and prosocial behaviors. Eventually, the findings of the two groups were compared. Results: The mean score of SRS in cases was 43.35±36.84 and in controls 29.69 ± 11.20 (P-value = 0.012). Besides, the two groups were different in all subscales (P-value < 0.05) except social motivation (P-value = 0.1). The comparison of SDQ revealed a significant difference between the cases with a mean score of 5.93±5.53 and controls with 3.26 ± 2.57 (P-value = 0.011). Besides, the two groups were different in all subscales (P-value < 0.05) except for conduct problems (P-value = 0.1). Conclusion: The siblings of autistic children showed more socio-behavioral problems than the controls. The genetically or nurturing of these problems should be investigated.
International Journal of Psychological Studies, 2018
Autism spectrum disorders (ASD) include pervasive developmental disorders characterised by communication deficits, difficulty with social understanding, and repetitive behaviors. Few studies have compared the efficacy, affect, and coping strategies of siblings of typically developing children with siblings of children with ASD. Typically developing siblings are understood to be at an increased risk of externalising and internalising problems. The current study examined whether siblings of children with ASD differed in levels of efficacy, affect, and coping from siblings of typically developing children. Participants (156) included an Australia-wide sample involving 82 siblings of children with ASD, and 74 siblings of typically developing individuals. Participants completed The Self-Efficacy Scale for Children (assessing social, emotional, and academic efficacy), the Positive and Negative Affect Scales, the Brief COPE Scale, and other scales as part of the larger study. Results showe...
Child Development Research, 2019
This study focused on parents’ perceptions of the quality of sibling relationship and its association with some behavioral and emotional characteristics of the typically developing sibling. The participants were parents of children with autism spectrum disorder and typically developing siblings. The sample size was 43. The group comprised 14 fathers (32.6%) and 29 mothers (67.4%) aged 33–53 years (M=43.56; SD = 5.23). The parents completed measures of siblings’ emotional and behavioral difficulties, siblings’ personality, and sibling relationships and their impact on families and siblings. The results showed that behavioral difficulties such as emotional symptoms, conduct problems, hyperactivity/inattention, and peer relationship problems were significantly associated with negative sibling relationships—characterized by rivalry, aggression, avoidance, and teaching behavior toward the brother or sister with an autism spectrum disorder. The implications are that sibling-focused interv...
2016
To compare the psychological adjustment of typical siblings of children with autism with siblings of normal children within the context of their family environment. STUDY DESIGN: A Comparative cross sectional study. st th PLACE & DURATION: The study was conducted in 10 institutes dealing children with special needs in Lahore city from 1 Oct 2011 to 30 March 2013. METHODOLOGY: Children with autism were identified from institutes of special children and those meeting the inclusion criteria were recruited. Their typical siblings and their counterparts were than assessed for their psychological adjustment focusing on their emotional problems, conduct problems, hyperactivity issues, peer problems and pro-social behaviour. RESULTS: It was found that psychological adjustment of normal siblings of autistic children was suggestively poorer than siblings of typical children. Presence of a child with autism was a significant predictor of psychological mal-adjustment, emotional symptoms, conduct problems and peer related problems in their siblings. CONCLUSION: The difference between the psychological health of a sibling from a typical children group and a sibling from the autistic group can be attributed to the presence of the autistic child
The Psychosocial Effects of Having a Sibling with Autism Spectrum Disorder
Exceptionality Education International, 2020
Siblings play an important role in one another’s overall development; thus, the sibling relationship is an important subsystem within the family unit. However, in families where one child has an autism spectrum disorder diagnosis, the dynamics between siblings may be different than in families with typically developing children due to the associated deficits in communication. Therefore, this mixed-method study examined the perceptions of six typically developing children regarding their relationship with a sibling with autism. Parents were heterosexual couples, and families were white and mostly middle class. Semi-structured interviews and questionnaires regarding the sibling relationship were administered to the typically developing child. Identification of major themes followed by focused coding was conducted to capture the essence of what was said and to categorize the most frequent themes. Overall, typically developing children highlighted both positive and negative features of ...
Siblings of children with autism are at a greater risk of experiencing behavioral and social problems. Previous researches had focused on environmental variables such as family history of autism spectrum disorders (ASDs), behavior problems in the child with an ASD, parental mental health problems, stressful life events and "broader autism phenotype" (BAP), while variables like parenting style and family function that are shown to influence children's behavioral and psychosocial adjustment are overlooked. The aim of the present study was to reveal how parenting style and family function as well as BAP effect psychological adjustment of siblings of children with autism. Method: The Participants included 65 parents who had one child with an Autism Spectrum Disorder and one typically developing child. Of the children with ASDs, 40 were boys and 25 were girls; and they were diagnosed with ASDs by a psychiatrist based on DSM-IV-TR criteria and Autism Diagnostic Interview-Revised (ADI-R). The Persian versions of the six scales were used to collect data from the families. Pearson's correlation test and regression analysis were used to determine which variables were related to the psychological adjustment of sibling of children with ASDs and which variables predicted it better. Results: Significant relationships were found between Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire (SDQ) total difficulties, prosocial behaviors and ASDs symptoms severity, parenting styles and some aspects of family function. In addition, siblings who had more BAP characteristics had more behavior problems and less prosocial behavior. Behavioral problems increased and prosocial behavior decreased with permissive parenting style. Besides, both of authoritarian and authoritative parenting styles led to a decrease in behavioral problems and an increase in prosocial behaviors. Our findings revealed that some aspects of family function (affective responsiveness, roles, problem solving and behavior control) were significantly correlated with behavioral problems and prosocial behaviors in typically developing (TD) siblings of children with ASDs. Conclusion: Siblings of children with ASDs, due to genetic liability, are at a greater risk of psychological maladjustment. Furthermore, environmental factors like parenting styles and family function also have a significant effect on psychological maladjustment.
Perceived competence and behavioral adjustment of siblings of children with autism
Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders, 1993
Compared 19 siblings of severely autistic children with 20 siblings of children with Down syndrome and 20 siblings of developmentally normal children. Results reveal that siblings of autistic children have more internalizing and externalizing behavior problems than siblings of developmentally normal children; however, the three groups did not differ significantly on measures of perceived self-competence or parents' report of social competence. Examination of demographic variables indicate that age of sibling and parents' marital satisfaction were associated with siblings' psychological functioning. Implications for future research are discussed.