The Response of Children to the Dying and Death of a Sibling

Abstract

This study investigated the behavioral adjustment of sixty-one children ages four to sixteen years during the terminal illness and first year following a sibling's death from cancer. Using the Child Behavior Checklist, data on behavior problems and competence were collected from parents and teachers. Data collection occurred before death during the terminal phase, and two weeks, four months, and one year post death. The results of data analysis by t-test comparisons generally indicated that the bereaved siblings demonstrated significantly higher levels of behavior problems and significantly lower social competence in comparison to normal children. The implications for practice are discussed.

Life balance in adult healthy siblings of individuals with childhood cancer.

“…Classmates were matched to bereaved siblings on three variables: age, sex, and race. Teachers reported that the classmates were less social than the bereaved siblings, a finding not supported by prior research that suggests that bereaved children have lower social competency than the normal population (Birenbaum et al, 1989;Davies, 1983). Bereaved elementary school siblings were more likely to be perceived as less prosocial by their peers and less accepted by peer groups, while bereaved middle and high school siblings were perceived as being leaders and more popular by peers and teachers .…”

“…Davies (1983) concluded that bereaved siblings experience a higher rate of internalizing behaviors and lower social competence than the normal population. Internalizing behaviors were found to continue up to 9 years after the sibling's death and were thought to last into adulthood (Birenbaum et al, 1989;Davies, 1991;Nolbris & Hellström, 2005;Sveen, Eilegård, Steineck, & Kreicbergs, 2014). Over 50% of the bereaved siblings in Davies's (1983) study displayed argumentative behavior and internalizing behaviors.…”

“…Research data were collected from secondary sources, such as parent and teacher reports (Birenbaum et al, 1989;Davies, 1983;Gerhardt et al, 2012;Lähteenmäki, Huostila, Hinkka, & Salmi, 2002), instead of collecting data from the siblings themselves. In other studies, siblings were used as the control group and were not the primary focus of the study (Larcombe, Mott, & Hunt, 2002;Tao, Julianne, Guo, & Robert, 1998;Zebrack et al, 2002;Zebrack et al, 2004;Zebrack et al, 2007).…”

“…It is important to note that Davies's (1983) study relied solely on the mother's report of the sibling behaviors: no data was collected from the children themselves. Likewise, Birenbaum et al (1989) also did not collect data from the children, but instead collected data from parents and teachers. Gerhardt et al (2012) collected data from the teachers and classmates of 105 bereaved siblings to compare the peer relationships of bereaved siblings to those of their classmates.…”

“…Previous literature has shown that losing a sibling to childhood cancer can result in several adverse psychological outcomes, including sleeping problems, externalizing behaviors, stress, anger, developmental difficulties, and social problems (Adams & Deveau, 1987;Birenbaum et al, 1989;Davies, 1983;Davies, 1991;Martinson & Campos, 1991;Nolbris & Hellström, 2005;Sveen et al, 2014), all of which can last through adulthood. As such, it was expected that adults whose siblings died as a result of their cancer would have lower life balance scores than those whose siblings did not die.…”