The relationship between attitude to disabled siblings and ratings of behavioural competency.
Adult siblings view higher-functioning brothers and sisters with ID as more reciprocal, yet warmth does not hinge on skill level.
01Research in Context
What this study did
Researchers asked adult brothers and sisters to rate how capable their intellectually disabled sibling is. They also asked how warm the rater feels toward that brother or sister.
The survey looked only at adults. It did not test any treatment or training.
What they found
Higher-functioning disabled siblings were seen as more skilled and more able to give back in the relationship.
Yet warmth toward the sibling did not rise or fall with the disabled brother or sister’s skill level. Attitude stayed steady.
How this fits with other research
Giallo et al. (2014) found that child siblings show more emotional and behavior problems than peers. Rasing et al. (1992) shows the same family role can look positive in adulthood. The gap is about age, not a true clash.
Cuskelly (2016) also surveyed adult siblings of people with Down syndrome. Like J et al., she saw that warmth is not tied to overall functioning. Instead, past behavior problems predict current warmth.
Swettenham et al. (2013) went deeper. Their interviews show adults build give-and-take ties by pulling in cousins, friends, and clubs. J et al. captured the snapshot; John et al. show how the movie is made.
Why it matters
When you plan with families, remind parents that childhood stress may fade. Adult brothers and sisters often see the disabled sibling as a real partner, not only a care load. Use this hope to keep everyone engaged in long-range planning.
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02At a glance
03Original abstract
The impact of maturation factors and functioning level on the relationship between disabled and non-disabled siblings was examined. Two groups of adults, distinguished by level of functioning of their mentally retarded sibling, completed a Schaefer Sibling Behavior Inventory (SBI) and participated in a semi-structured interview. The latter explored a number of dimensions of the relationship including degree of warmth, contact and involvement. Judgements about involvement and comfort as remembered from the past and judgements about the present were obtained to derive hypotheses about possible changes with time. Data from the SBI indicated that significantly more competent siblings tended to be involved in relationships with a higher degree of reciprocity. In contrast, measures of attitude derived from interview data did not appear to relate to the functioning level of the sibling in any systematic manner. The results suggest that level of discomfort with peers may decrease significantly over the years with neither level of functioning nor gender being important variables. The extent to which non-disabled individuals expressed a preparedness to participate in the life of their disabled sibling may relate to the life-stage of the two. Males in particular anticipated increased future involvement. Although higher-functioning siblings were described as more active in the relationship, this did not appear to influence perceived positiveness of regard. The implications of these results are discussed briefly.
Journal of intellectual disability research : JIDR, 1992 · doi:10.1111/j.1365-2788.1992.tb00531.x