To understand why some SCC experience psychological distress while others do not, researchers have turned their attention to potential protective factors that may influence the ability of SCC to cope with the cancer experience. Provision of protective/buffering factors specifically to less-resilient siblings (defined as those with higher initial depression and anxiety symptom scores) in the form of a structured program has not been previously attempted. The objective of this study was to explore outcomes of a specialized 8 week, intervention program for SCC. SCC and one parent completed standardized questionnaires exploring symptoms of depression and anxiety pre and post intervention. Results showed that the gender of the SCC, and the specific diagnosis of the child with cancer were factors significantly associated with the degree of reported symptoms of anxiety and depression respectively. Looking at significant interactions, we found that girls whose siblings had brain tumours improved less than other subgroups

This study used an analytic/qualitative method to gather data about young siblings and their interactions with each other as they engaged in literacy-related play activities in the home. The mothers of four sets of siblings collected the initial data in their rural home settings. The fieldwork took place over a period of eight weeks and included written observational notes of literacy-related play events. Detailed descriptions of the interactions were coded according to five research-related themes. They were 1) the older siblings take the role of the more capable other, 2) the older siblings initiate more activities and demonstrate teacher-like behaviors,3) the younger siblings follow the lead of the older sibling, 4) the younger siblings seek the approval of the older sibling, and 5) young siblings share an intimate experience with each other when engaged in literacy-related activities. The study also identified an additional theme of balanced/shared roles. More research is necessary in the area of sibling interactions between twins and siblings that are close in age.

Note:

The thesis deals with a psychosocial situation of siblings of children with a pervasiv disorder. The labour surveys new findings about the autism and an effect of autistic child on its sibling in the theoretical part. The part devoted to the autism is mostly focused on neurobiological findings of this disease. The part about siblings is specialised in pieces of knowledge from available researches and describes the present condition of scientific knowledge. The empirical part describes a psychosocial situation of siblings of autistic children. A qualitative method was used during the research. The main used method is a test called "FAST" (Family System Test) and a follow-up interview. The diploma work goes towards a deeper understanding of a psychological and social situation of a healthy sibling. Detailed studies of cases which indicate possible risks resulting from living with an autistic child are presented in the project. There are also mentioned tendencies of further research progress. Keywords: Siblings, autism, psychosocial situation of siblings.

Half-sibling reconstruction is the task of determining maternal and paternal sibling relationships from observed genotypes of same-generation individuals in a population. Knowledge of how populations are structured allows biologists to understand mating habits of different species, how threatened a population is, and how best to protect threatened or endangered species. This thesis examines the problem of half-sibling reconstruction and explains an accurate and fast heurstic for reconstructing half-siblings. The heuristic reconstructs half-sibling relationships with high accuracy on large biological populations where existing algorithms fail due to running time constraints. In addition to identifying and discussing some of the major problems with half-sibling reconstruction, we also prove that even the task of determining whether a half-sibling reconstruction obeys genetic inheritance laws is NP-complete. Some solutions for overcoming the inherent difficulty of half-sibling reconstruction are also proposed.

Previous research has started the discussion about the impact of unmet needs on the psychosocial adjustment of well-siblings of children and youth diagnosed with cancer. The purpose of this qualitative study was to retrospectively explore the needs of adolescents who had a brother or sister, who was diagnosed with, treated for and who lived through cancer. The findings and knowledge mobilization project from this study will extend the literature and will also bring information to counsellors, social workers, doctors, nurses, cancer support agencies, parents, family members, friends, teachers, and—importantly—to well-siblings themselves. Narrative data were collected from 7 adult sisters who reflected on their adolescent-aged experience of being the well-sibling of a sister (n=4) or brother (n=3) who was diagnosed with and treated for cancer. Data were analyzed using thematic analysis and 7 need-based themes identified from the data are reported. Further research is recommended, and implications from the present study are discussed. / Graduate / 0519 / 0621 / 0992 / genevievestonebridge@gmail.com

Half-sibling reconstruction is the task of determining maternal and paternal sibling relationships from observed genotypes of same-generation individuals in a population. Knowledge of how populations are structured allows biologists to understand mating habits of different species, how threatened a population is, and how best to protect threatened or endangered species. This thesis examines the problem of half-sibling reconstruction and explains an accurate and fast heurstic for reconstructing half-siblings. The heuristic reconstructs half-sibling relationships with high accuracy on large biological populations where existing algorithms fail due to running time constraints. In addition to identifying and discussing some of the major problems with half-sibling reconstruction, we also prove that even the task of determining whether a half-sibling reconstruction obeys genetic inheritance laws is NP-complete. Some solutions for overcoming the inherent difficulty of half-sibling reconstruction are also proposed.

Objectives: (1) To ascertain whether adult siblings of disabled individuals are more prone to anxiety and depression symptomatology than a closely matched control group. (2) To examine the contribution that perceived parenting styles, attachment styles and personality traits play in the long-term affective outcome of these siblings. (3) To consider if the type of disability has a role in sibling affective outcome. Design: A cross-sectional, closely matched study design, with data collected through self-report. One-way ANOVAs, correlational analyses, moderation and mediation analyses were applied. Participants: Adult siblings of disabled individuals (SDI), were initially contacted through support groups, such as SIBS, the Down’s Syndrome Association, the National Autistic Society and the Prader-Willi Association (UK) and responded to a postal or e-mailed questionnaire; 150 participants returned the completed questionnaire. The 150 control group participants were closely matched on the variables of gender, age, marital status and when possible socio-economic status, in order to compare like with like. This group was contacted through friends, family, work colleagues and local businesses. Measures: All the participants completed a range of demographic questions; the SDI were additionally asked questions regarding their disabled sibling. The established measures used included the Hospital and Anxiety Depression Scale (Zigmond & Snaith, 1983), Experiences in Close Relationships (Brennan, Clark & Shaver, 1998), an adapted measure of the Descriptions of Parental Caregiving Style (DPCS, Hazan & Shaver, 1986) and the International Personality Item Pool (Goldberg, 1999). Results: The majority of SDI reported no increased anxiety or depression symptomatology, however, when compared the SDI did report higher levels of anxiety and depression symptomatology than the control group; also higher levels of perceived inconsistent mothering, attachment-related anxiety and neuroticism, with lower levels of extraversion than the control group. These variables mediated the path between having a disabled sibling and anxiety and depression, with the notable exception of perceived inconsistent mothering. This variable showed no association with any of the established measures for the SDI group; however, there were associations consistent with previous research for the control group. There was no moderation effect on anxiety or depression between the demographic variables and SDI. The autistic spectrum disorder siblings reported similar levels of anxiety symptomatology to Prader-Willi siblings but higher than Down’s syndrome siblings and the control group and they also reported the highest levels of depression symptomatology. Conclusions: The adult SDI’s higher propensity towards anxiety and depression is a cause for concern; particularly when explained through heightened levels of attachment-related anxiety, high levels of neuroticism and low levels of extraversion. The lack of association with perceived inconsistent mothering requires further investigation. These results can help guide interventions or clinical therapies; the emotional well-being of SDI is paramount as they will possibly be among the first group to assume responsibility for their disabled siblings.

Thesis advisor: Penny Hauser-Cram / This study involves secondary analysis of data from the Early Intervention Collaborative Study (EICS; Hauser-Cram, Warfield, Shonkoff, & Krauss, 2001), a longitudinal investigation of children with disabilities and their families. Presented is a mixed methods investigation of the relationship between future planning issues and sibling relationship quality when the teen with a disability (DD) was in adolescence (15 and 18 years old). First, future planning issues were examined contemporaneously with sibling relationship quality using hierarchical regression. Second, future planning issues from when the teen with DD was 15 years old were investigated in their relation to change in sibling relationship quality from ages 15 to 18 using lagged OLS regression. Third, qualitative content analysis was used to analyze sibling responses to a series of open-ended questions concerning the future at age 15 (1 question) and age 18 (4 questions). Siblings were asked "what have you learned by living with your brother or sister?" at both time points. In the first set of analyses, discussion of the teen's needs with parents, teen functional skills, sibling gender match, and sibling expectation of future roles were found to significantly relate to sibling relationship cooperation when the teen was 18. Additionally, sibling birth order was related to sibling conflict at age 18. In the second set of analyses, sibling relationship closeness was found to decrease over adolescence and sibling pessimism at age 15 was found to negatively relate this decrease. Finally, in the results for the qualitative analysis, various themes in sibling responses are discussed. More specifically, patterns arose in the change of sibling responses: trends reflecting a decrease in sibling relationship closeness, trends reflecting increasing role asymmetry in the sibling relationship, and trends reflecting sibling development. Future research must further examine the sibling relationship by using a developmental perspective and by taking into account the dynamic nature of sibling roles. The findings support the design of family-based interventions that address future planning explicitly with siblings and parents. Finally, improving the current resources and support for siblings may potentially increase siblings' perception of sibling relationship quality in these sibling pairs. / Thesis (PhD) — Boston College, 2012. / Submitted to: Boston College. Lynch School of Education. / Discipline: Counseling, Developmental, and Educational Psychology.

The study explored the experiences of young adults who have a sibling with cerebral palsy living in Nairobi, Kenya in order to establish how they made sense out of the experience of growing up with a sibling with CP. The study used a qualitative approach with an Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis (IPA) whereby six participants all young adults aged between eighteen and twenty four years, were interviewed using semi-structured interviews. Data analysis was undertaken according to IPA guidelines. The findings generated four super ordinate themes namely: increased sense of reward, emotional impact, family relationships and public relations. The findings revealed that there was a direct impact on sense of psychological well-being both negatively and positively. On one hand, the young adults experienced feelings of stigma, fear about the future, anger and a sense of responsibility. While on the other hand they experienced personal growth in terms of a sense of personal development and some concrete rewards. In conclusion, the study demonstrated the potential for personal development in the group studied and made a contribution to understanding the disabling impact of society on the lives of sibling due to disability by association.