Parent and Well-Sibling Communication in Families With a Child Who Has a Life-Limiting Condition: Quantitative Survey Data

Abstract

Objective Living with a child with a life-limiting condition (LLC), for which there is no hope of cure and premature death is expected, places much stress on a family unit. Familial communication has the potential to serve as a buffer when children are faced with stressful situations. The overall aim of the study was to learn more about illness-related communication between parents and well-siblings, giving particular consideration to the amount of illness-related communication, and sibling satisfaction with familial communication. Methods Participants included 48 well-siblings (aged 6–21 years) of children with LLCs and their parents. Parents and well-siblings independently completed validated measures of familial communication and sibling functioning. Parents also provided demographic information and completed a questionnaire assessing amount of illness-related information provided to well-siblings. Results Parents reported that 47.8% of well-siblings never or rarely initiated conversations about their sibling's illness. Moreover, 52.2% of well-siblings never or rarely spoke about death. Amount of illness-related communication between parents and well-siblings was most strongly predicted by parental resilience and well-sibling age. Parents engaged in significantly more illness-related communication with girls than boys (t(44)=−2.28, p = .028). Well-siblings (p < .01) and parents (p < .05) rated satisfaction with familial communication significantly higher than published norms. The only significant predictor of well-sibling satisfaction with familial communication was greater familial cohesion. Family communication variables were not significantly correlated with measures of sibling functioning (all p’s>.05). Conclusions This study provides new information regarding parent and well-sibling communication in families who have a child with a LLC.

“What about me?”: lived experiences of siblings living with a brother or sister with a life-threatening or life-limiting condition

“…The importance of talking with someone is consistent with other studies reporting that communication between parents and siblings is one of the most critical factors in siblings adapting to life with an ill child (Jaaniste et al, 2020 ; Marklund et al, 2018 ), and leading to siblings feeling less alone (Eaton Russell et al, 2018 ; Lövgren et al, 2020 ). Siblings may struggle to speak about their feelings (Jaaniste et al, 2022 ) or avoiding initiating conversations to protect their parents from feeling sad or uncomfortable (Eaton Russell et al, 2018 ). In D’Urso et al ( 2017 ) study, all siblings reported that it was helpful once they had been able to talk and recommended it to other siblings (D’Urso et al, 2017 ).…”

Examining Emotional and Behavioural Trajectories in Siblings of Children with Life-Threatening Conditions

“…30 While some authors have found that brothers are more likely to develop externalizing problems, others have found that brothers may experience emotional struggles because they tend to receive less education-related communication from parents than sisters. 10,24,37 Additionally, researchers have found that sisters are generally more prone to internalizing problems, likely due to increased caregiving responsibilities at home, fewer social activities with peers, and a lack of parental attention. 36,38 However, our ndings revealed that sisters had more externalizing problems than brothers, possibly due to uncertainties in the initial phases of the child's condition.…”