Sibling relationship quality and psychosocial outcomes among adult siblings of individuals with autism spectrum disorder and individuals with intellectual disability without autism.
Positive feelings toward a brother or sister with autism or ID lead adult siblings to give more help and enjoy better mental health.
01Research in Context
What this study did
McIntyre et al. (2017) asked adult brothers and sisters about their feelings toward a sibling with autism or intellectual disability.
They used a survey to measure how positive the attitudes were, how much support the typical sibling gave, and how the typical sibling was feeling in life.
What they found
When the typical adult sibling felt good about the relationship, they gave more help and felt better themselves.
Better attitudes linked to higher life satisfaction, lower stress, and less depression in the typical sibling.
How this fits with other research
Heald et al. (2020) looked at the same adult group but found worse attitudes and more depression. The two studies seem opposite, yet both can be true: S et al. show the power of a good attitude, while M et al. show the average is still tough.
Amanollahi et al. (2025) moved past surveys and tested an autism-focused sibling support group. They proved that teaching siblings can actually improve the relationship, turning the 2017 “good feelings help” idea into action.
Emmelkamp et al. (1986) first showed that even kids view these bonds positively, giving early roots to the adult findings.
Why it matters
You can’t change the diagnosis, but you can shape sibling attitudes. Ask adult siblings how they see the relationship in your intake forms. If they sound strained, link them to sibling support groups or brief counseling. A small boost in their view can mean more help at home and a healthier family overall.
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02At a glance
03Original abstract
Research on adult typically-developing (TD) siblings of individuals with developmental disabilities remains limited, and outcomes for TD siblings appear to vary widely. For the current study, 82 adult TD siblings of individuals with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) or intellectual disability (ID) completed questionnaires about themselves and their affected sibling. Results of this study suggest that the attitudes possessed by adult TD siblings are important to consider when understanding adult TD sibling outcomes. Specifically, data indicate that higher levels of positive sibling relationship attitudes are related to TD siblings providing more aid/support to their sibling with a disability, along with having higher levels of general life satisfaction, and negatively related to levels of stress and depressive symptoms among TD siblings. Consistent with previous child research, siblings of individuals with ASD reported fewer positive sibling relationship attitudes compared to siblings of individuals with ID. Finally, group membership related to aid provided, depressive symptoms, and stress of TD siblings indirectly through sibling relationship attitudes. Overall, results indicate that sibling relationship attitudes may be particularly important to consider when conceptualizing sibling relationships when one sibling has an intellectual or developmental disability.
Research in developmental disabilities, 2017 · doi:10.1016/j.ridd.2017.01.008