Abstract

Siblings of children with chronic disorders are at increased risk of experiencing family communication problems and poorer mental health. We assessed initial feasibility, acceptability, and outcomes of SIBS; a manual-based group intervention for siblings and parents of children with chronic disorders, aiming to improve parent-sibling communication and sibling mental health. Ninety-nine siblings aged 8–16 years (M = 11.5 years, SD = 2.0; 54.5% girls) and parents (63.6% mothers) of children with chronic disorders participated in three separate group sessions for siblings and parents and two joint sessions with integrated sibling-parent dialogues. We assessed participant satisfaction post-intervention and checked for group leader manual adherence. We measured the following outcomes at baseline, three, and six months post-intervention in an open trial: (1) parent-sibling communication quality; (2) sibling emotional and behavioral problems; (3) sibling adaptation to the disorder; and (4) sibling disorder knowledge. Using growth curve modeling, we found significant improvement in parent-sibling communication quality (p = 0.001), emotional and behavioral problems (p = 0.009), adaptation to the disorder (p = 0.003), and disorder knowledge (p = 0.000) from baseline to follow-up (effect sizes d = 0.22 to 0.64). Improvement in sibling-reported emotional and behavioral problems and adaptation to the disorder was partly explained by communication quality. User satisfaction was high and manual adherence was good. Our evaluation yields support for the SIBS intervention, with initial evidence of acceptability, feasibility, and beneficial outcomes. Our study suggests targeting parent-sibling communication may be a beneficial way of improving siblings’ mental health.

Highlights

  • SIBS is a novel five-session intervention for siblings as next of kin.

  • An open trial showed beneficial sibling outcomes after participating in SIBS.

  • Both siblings and parents reported high satisfaction with SIBS.

  • Involving parents actively may be key to sibling interventions.

  • Targeting parent-child communication may represent useful sibling support.

Details

Title
Evaluation of “SIBS”, An Intervention for Siblings and Parents of Children with Chronic Disorders
Author
Haukeland, Yngvild Bjartveit 1   VIAFID ORCID Logo  ; Czajkowski, Nikolai Olavi 1 ; Fjermestad Krister Westlye 2 ; Silverman, Wendy K 3 ; Mossige Svein 1 ; Vatne, Torun Marie 4 

1  University of Oslo, Department of Psychology, Oslo, Norway (GRID:grid.5510.1) (ISNI:0000 0004 1936 8921) 
2  University of Oslo, Department of Psychology, Oslo, Norway (GRID:grid.5510.1) (ISNI:0000 0004 1936 8921); Frambu Competence Center for Rare Disorders, Siggerud, Norway (GRID:grid.5510.1) 
3  Yale University, Department of Psychology, New Haven, USA (GRID:grid.47100.32) (ISNI:0000000419368710) 
4  Frambu Competence Center for Rare Disorders, Siggerud, Norway (GRID:grid.5510.1) 
Pages
2201-2217
Publication year
2020
Publication date
Aug 2020
Publisher
Springer Nature B.V.
ISSN
10621024
e-ISSN
15732843
Source type
Scholarly Journal
Language of publication
English
DOI
https://doi.org/10.1007/s10826-020-01737-x
ProQuest document ID
2422012585
Copyright
© The Author(s) 2020. This work is published under http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ (the “License”). Notwithstanding the ProQuest Terms and Conditions, you may use this content in accordance with the terms of the License.