The emotional and behavioural functioning of siblings of children with special health care needs across childhood.
Siblings of kids with special needs carry lasting emotional weight—check on them, not just the identified client.
01Research in Context
What this study did
Giallo et al. (2014) tracked brothers and sisters of kids with special health needs.
They measured emotional and behavior problems at different ages across childhood.
The study used surveys and checklists to compare these siblings with typical peers.
What they found
Siblings scored higher on problem scales at almost every age.
The gap did not close as they grew up.
Problems stayed steady instead of fading away.
How this fits with other research
Crossman et al. (2018) extends this picture. They asked adult siblings of people with autism about caregiving. Adults who had parent-like jobs as kids felt fewer benefits and planned to give less future help.
Yamaoka et al. (2022) and Eussen et al. (2016) show the same stress pattern in moms and dads. Parents of kids in special schools or with ASD report worse health and more anxiety.
Together the studies map a family-wide stress loop. When one child has extra needs, every member carries some load.
Why it matters
You already watch the diagnosed child. Now screen the brothers and sisters too. A quick SDQ or BASC-2 at intake gives you a baseline. If scores are high, add sibling support groups, respite vouchers, or brief behavior plans. Reducing their stress can improve the whole home climate and keep learning on track for every learner in the family.
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02At a glance
03Original abstract
This study examined the emotional and behavioural functioning of siblings of children with special health care needs identified in the Longitudinal Study of Australian Children (LSAC). Of the 106 siblings identified, 15-52% had emotional and behavioural difficulties in the at-risk or clinical range on the parent-reported Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire (SDQ) subscales when aged 4-5 (wave 1), 6-7 (wave 2), 8-9 (wave 3) and 10-11 years (wave 4). After controlling for differences in socio-economic position, siblings had significantly higher difficulties on all subscales than their peers without a brother or sister with a special health care need at most time points. Latent growth modelling revealed little change in emotional and behavioural symptoms for siblings across childhood, while behavioural symptoms decreased for their peers. These findings suggest that some siblings are at heightened risk of emotional and behavioural difficulties across childhood, underscoring the importance of assessing and promoting the wellbeing of all family members when providing services to children with special health care needs.
Research in developmental disabilities, 2014 · doi:10.1016/j.ridd.2014.01.017