Behavioral adjustment of siblings of children with autism engaged in applied behavior analysis early intervention programs: the moderating role of social support.
Siblings of kids in big home ABA programs stay well-adjusted, but formal support only helps when the autistic child’s symptoms are mild.
01Research in Context
What this study did
The team watched siblings of children with autism who were getting 25 hours a week of home ABA.
They asked moms to rate each child’s behavior and the social support the family got.
Then they checked if more support meant fewer behavior problems for the brothers and sisters.
What they found
Most siblings looked fine; problem scores stayed in the normal range.
Extra formal support helped only when the autistic child’s symptoms were mild.
When symptoms were severe, more support did not change sibling scores.
How this fits with other research
Sutton et al. (2022) pooled many studies and found low support usually hurts siblings.
Our paper agrees, but adds a twist: support only buffers when autism traits are mild.
Bergmann et al. (2019) extend this idea by showing the worst problems show up when a sibling says support is vital yet rare.
Glugatch et al. (2021) go one step further and teach siblings play skills, proving brothers and sisters can be active helpers, not just passive observers.
Why it matters
You can reassure parents that starting intensive home ABA does not automatically upset the other kids.
Still, screen the siblings anyway; if the autistic child has mild traits, link the family to formal groups or SibworkS right away.
If traits are severe, extra play training or peer groups may help more than extra paperwork.
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02At a glance
03Original abstract
There have been few studies of the impact of intensive home-based early applied behavior analysis (ABA) intervention for children with autism on family functioning. In the present study, behavioral adjustment was explored in 78 siblings of children with autism on ABA programs. First, mothers' ratings of sibling adjustment were compared to a normative sample. There were no reported increases in behavioral adjustment problems in the present sample. Second, regression analyses revealed that social support functioned as a moderator of the impact of autism severity on sibling adjustment rather than a mediator or compensatory variable. In particular, siblings in families with a less severely autistic child had fewer adjustment problems when more formal social support was also available to the family. The implications of these data for future research and for practice are discussed.
Journal of autism and developmental disorders, 2003 · doi:10.1023/a:1022983209004