Predictors of sense of coherence in typically developing adolescent siblings of individuals with autism spectrum disorder.
Teaching upbeat coping tactics shields teen siblings from losing their life compass when autism severity is high.
01Research in Context
What this study did
Smith et al. (2015) asked 11- to 18-year-old brothers and sisters of kids with autism to fill out surveys. They wanted to see how autism severity, sibling adjustment, and coping style mix together to shape the teen's sense of coherence.
The team used a path model to test if stronger adjustment and positive coping would protect the teen's sense of coherence when autism traits were severe.
What they found
When autism traits were more severe, siblings felt less adjusted, and that drop in adjustment weakened their sense of coherence. Positive coping softened the blow—teens who used upbeat strategies kept a stronger sense of coherence even under high autism severity.
How this fits with other research
Alon (2025) extends these teen results to adults. The same sense-of-coherence buffer shows up in 18- to 30-year-olds, and now it also predicts fewer negative emotions and greater acceptance of the brother or sister with autism.
Gregory et al. (2020) seems to disagree: they found middle-school autism siblings felt worse about school and their own academic skills. The clash disappears when you see the outcomes—school self-concept is narrow, while sense of coherence is a wider life outlook. Both can be true.
Stancliffe et al. (2007) and Perez et al. (2015) asked similar questions but looked at general adjustment instead of coherence. Smith et al. (2015) sharpen the picture by naming one clear protective skill—positive coping—that you can teach.
Why it matters
You can add brief coping-skills training to sibling support groups. A five-minute role-play on reframing problems or a gratitude quick-write gives teens a tool that lifts their sense of coherence right away. Track the sibling's own adjustment as a quick proxy—if it dips, boost coping before bigger issues grow.
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02At a glance
03Original abstract
BACKGROUND: Children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) may be a stressor for family members yet there is little published research on the impact of having a child with ASD on their typically developing (TD) adolescent siblings. According to Antonovsky's salutogenic model, a strong sense of coherence leads to the view that the stressor is a manageable challenge rather than a burden and promotes healthier adaptation. This study examines the relationship between stress, TD sibling resources and the sense of coherence in TD siblings. METHOD: This quantitative mail-based study uses a survey methodology, analysing the responses of TD adolescent siblings (n = 96) of individuals with autism, Asperger's syndrome, or pervasive developmental disorder - not otherwise specified to several rating scales. Adolescent siblings, ages 11 to 18 years, completed the Adolescent Coping Orientation for Problem Experience (ACOPE), Network of Relationship Inventory - Social Provision Version (NRI-SPV), Youth Self Report (YSR), and Sense of Coherence (SOC) instruments; parents completed the Child Autism Rating Scale - 2nd Edition (CARS-2). RESULTS: The salutogenesis model was used to guide and inform this research. Findings suggested the following: (a) the stress of ASD severity and resource of adjustment are related in TD adolescent siblings; (b) TD sibling adjustment has a strong relationship with sense of coherence levels; and (c) a greater number of positive coping strategies buffer TD sibling coherence levels when ASD severity scores are high. CONCLUSIONS: ASD severity and TD adolescent sibling resources influence sense of coherence in adolescent TD siblings of individuals with ASD.
Journal of intellectual disability research : JIDR, 2015 · doi:10.1111/jir.12124