Adjustment in siblings of children with chronic health conditions: Associations with parent depression, anxiety, and stress

• Main Author: Hughes, Marit Aall Henriksen
• Format: Dissertation
• Language: English

The present thesis is a quantitative correlational study of 92 healthy siblings age 8 – 16, and parents of children with chronic health conditions (CHC) recruited at Frambu resource centre for rare disorders and collaborative associations. Informed by a substantial, but divergent, field of research, the thesis aimed to investigate the level of siblings’ adjustment and the association between adjustment and general socio-emotional difficulties. Further, the thesis aimed to investigate whether the levels of adjustment and socio-emotional difficulties were associated with siblings’ age and gender, and possible correlations with parents’ depression, anxiety, and stress. The healthy siblings were found to generally report satisfactory adjustment and low levels of socio-emotional difficulties. The parents reported generally low levels of depression, anxiety, and stress. Contrary to our expectations, there were no significant differences between mothers and fathers on depression and anxiety. However, there was a significant difference between mothers’ and fathers’ report of stress, with mothers reporting higher levels of stress. The only significant correlation between parents and children was between children’s level of adjustment and fathers’ depression. In sum the general picture is of well-functioning families, where both parents and children are well adjusted and are coping with their life-situation. Possible explanations may be high SES and highly educated parents, in particular mothers. Other possible explanations include gender equality in the household, economic support and a well-functioning health care service, all elements important for adjustment, coping and resilience. An implication of the findings of this study is that both parents, i.e. both mother and father, should be included in interventions to improve siblings’ adjustment and socio-emotional functioning. Another important implication is that siblings as a group are well adjusted and coping well, further research is therefore needed to identify the individual siblings, parents, and families at risk of negative adjustment and socio-emotional difficulties.