Integrated sibling-parent group intervention to improve sibling knowledge and adjustment to chronic illness and disability

Objective: To evaluate an integrated group intervention for siblings and parents designed to increase sibling understanding of and adjustment to chronic illness and developmental disability (CI/DD). Methods: Fifty-four well siblings (ages 8-13 years) and their parents were recruited through hospital-based and community agencies serving children with CI/DD. Measures of sibling knowledge, sibling adjustment to the disorder, sibling connectedness, and sibling global behavioral functioning were collected before and after the intervention. A subsample of 20 families completed a 3-month follow-up to assess maintenance of results. Results: Sibling knowledge of the child's disorder and sibling connectedness increased, while sibling reports of negative adjustment to the disorder and parent reports of sibling global behavioral functioning decreased significantly from pre- to posttreatment for both boys and girls, regardless of the type of diagnostic condition. Improvements in sibling knowledge, connectedness, and behavioral problems maintained at 3-month follow-up. Parent satisfaction with the program was high. Conclusions: Results support the future conduct of more controlled evaluation of the integrated sibling and parent group intervention model to improve sibling knowledge of and adjustment to CI/DD.