Sibling disability and children's reactivity to conflicts involving family members.

Although rarely considered, siblings may significantly affect families in ways that have implications for other children's functioning, especially when the siblings' problems pose special difficulties. This study examined how having a disabled sibling predicted children's reactions to the everyday stress of family-related conflicts. Thirty children with a disabled sibling (15 boys, 15 girls) and 30 with nondisabled siblings (15 boys, 15 girls) responded to a series of disputes involving other family members. Having a disabled sibling predicted sensitization to these everyday family stresses, including more emotional distress; more expected involvement, perceived threat, and personal responsibility; more active coping strategies; and lower thresholds of conflict intensity for responding. Children with disabled siblings also evidenced more adjustment problems. Although developmental outcomes of challenging family circumstances may vary considerably for individual children, these results demonstrate the potential significance of siblings to the functioning of other children in the family.

[1]  D. Cicchetti,et al.  Maternal depressive disorder and contextual risk: Contributions to the development of attachment insecurity and behavior problems in toddlerhood , 1998, Development and Psychopathology.

[2]  H. Hops,et al.  Child responses to parental conflict and their effect on adjustment: A study of triadic relations. , 1998 .

[3]  G. Margolin,et al.  Observed sibling interaction: links with the marital and the mother-child relationship. , 1998, Developmental psychology.

[4]  Patrick T. Davies,et al.  Exploring children's emotional security as a mediator of the link between marital relations and child adjustment. , 1998, Child development.

[5]  G T Harold,et al.  Marital conflict and adolescent distress: the role of adolescent awareness. , 1997, Child development.

[6]  G. Harold,et al.  Mom and dad are at it again : adolescent perceptions of marital conflict and adolescent psychological distress , 1997 .

[7]  G. Margolin,et al.  Marital aggression, observed parental hostility, and child behavior during triadic family interaction , 1997 .

[8]  Patrick T. Davies,et al.  Emotional security as a regulatory process in normal development and the development of psychopathology , 1996, Development and Psychopathology.

[9]  P. Kerig.  Assessing the links between interparental conflict and child adjustment: The conflicts and problem-solving scales. , 1996 .

[10]  G. Margolin,et al.  The continuance and spillover of everyday tensions in distressed and nondistressed families. , 1996 .

[11]  E. Jouriles,et al.  Physical Violence and Other Forms of Marital Aggression: Links With Children's Behavior Problems , 1996 .

[12]  E. M. Cummings,et al.  Mixed Message Resolution and Children's Responses to Interadult Conflict , 1996 .

[13]  E. M. Cummings,et al.  Usefulness of experiments for the study of the family. , 1995 .

[14]  M. El-Sheikh,et al.  Background verbal and physical anger: a comparison of children's responses to adult-adult and adult-child arguments. , 1995, Child development.

[15]  E. M. Cummings,et al.  Children's responses to angry adult behavior as a function of experimentally manipulated exposure to resolved and unresolved conflict , 1995 .

[16]  Patrick T. Davies,et al.  Marital conflict and child adjustment: an emotional security hypothesis. , 1994, Psychological bulletin.

[17]  D. Cicchetti,et al.  Responses of physically abused and nonabused children to different forms of interadult anger. , 1994, Child development.

[18]  F. Fincham.  Understanding the association between marital conflict and child adjustment: Overview. , 1994 .

[19]  J. Dunn,et al.  Sibling relationships from the preschool period through middle childhood and early adolescence. , 1994 .

[20]  G. Fuller,et al.  Differences in Levels of Parental Stress among Mothers of Learning Disabled, Emotionally Impaired, and Regular School Children , 1994, Perceptual and motor skills.

[21]  L. Dyson.  Response to the presence of a child with disabilities: parental stress and family functioning over time. , 1993, American journal of mental retardation : AJMR.

[22]  John H. Grych,et al.  Children's appraisals of marital conflict: initial investigations of the cognitive-contextual framework. , 1993, Child development.

[23]  F D Fincham,et al.  Assessing marital conflict from the child's perspective: the children's perception of interparental conflict scale. , 1992, Child development.

[24]  Leonard Bj,et al.  Financial and time costs to parents of severely disabled children. , 1992 .

[25]  G. Margolin,et al.  Mothers' and Sons' Cognitive and Emotional Reactions to Simulated Marital and Family Conflict. , 1991 .

[26]  John H. Grych,et al.  Marital conflict and children's adjustment: a cognitive-contextual framework. , 1990, Psychological bulletin.

[27]  S. McHale,et al.  Family life problems, daily caregiving activities, and the psychological well-being of mothers of mentally retarded children. , 1989, American journal of mental retardation : AJMR.

[28]  C. Notarius,et al.  Children's responses to angry adult behavior as a function of marital distress and history of interparent hostility. , 1989, Child development.

[29]  R. Plomin,et al.  Sibling relationships: Links with child temperament, maternal behavior, and family structure. , 1989 .

[30]  S. McHale,et al.  Sibling relationships of children with disabled and nondisabled brothers and sisters. , 1989 .

[31]  J. Slade.  Why Siblings of Handicapped Children Need the Attention and Help of the Counselor. , 1988 .

[32]  S. McHale,et al.  Sibling Relationships and Adjustment of Children with Disabled Brothers and Sisters , 1988 .

[33]  R. Fewell,et al.  Stress and Adaptation in Parents of Young Handicapped and Nonhandicapped Children: A Comparative Study , 1986 .

[34]  W. Friedrich,et al.  Coping resources and parenting mentally retarded children. , 1985, American journal of mental deficiency.

[35]  D. Lobato.  Siblings of handicapped children: A review , 1983, Journal of autism and developmental disorders.

[36]  C. Edelbrock,et al.  Manual for the Child: Behavior Checklist and Revised Child Behavior Profile , 1983 .

[37]  C. Zahn-Waxler,et al.  Young Children's Responses to Expressions of Anger and Affection by Others in the Family. , 1981 .

[38]  S. McHale,et al.  Review: research on handicapped children: sibling relationships. , 1981, Child: care, health and development.

[39]  W. Friedrich,et al.  Psychosocial assets of parents of handicapped and nonhandicapped children. , 1981, American journal of mental deficiency.

[40]  K. O’leary,et al.  Marital discord and childhood behavior problems , 1980, Journal of abnormal child psychology.

[41]  K. Dodge,et al.  Social cognition and children's aggressive behavior. , 1980, Child development.

[42]  F. Treviño.  Siblings of Handicapped Children: Identifying those at Risk , 1979 .

[43]  J. Lavigne,et al.  Psychologic adjustment of siblings of children with chronic illness. , 1979, Pediatrics.

[44]  D. Cleveland,et al.  Attitudes and life commitments of older siblings of mentally retarded adults: an exploratory study. , 1977, Mental retardation.

[45]  A. Gath.  The Impact of an Abnormal Child upon the Parents , 1977, British Journal of Psychiatry.

[46]  I. McAndrew,et al.  Children with a handicap and their families. , 1976, The Medical journal of Australia.

[47]  A. Beck,et al.  An inventory for measuring depression. , 1961, Archives of general psychiatry.

[48]  P. Davies.  Responses of Children and Adolescents to Marital Conflict Scenarios as a Function of the Emotionality of Conflict Endings. , 1996 .

[49]  D. Cicchetti,et al.  Perspectives on developmental psychopathology. , 1995 .

[50]  Patrick T. Davies,et al.  Maternal depression and child development. , 1994, Journal of child psychology and psychiatry, and allied disciplines.

[51]  K. Dodge,et al.  The development of emotion regulation and dysregulation: Early development , 1991 .

[52]  John P. Robinson,et al.  Measures Of Personality And Social Psychological Attitudes , 1991 .

[53]  Kelly A. Brennan,et al.  Measures of depression and loneliness. , 1991 .

[54]  K. Crnic,et al.  Psychological predictors of adjustment by siblings of developmentally disabled children. , 1989, American journal of mental retardation : AJMR.

[55]  E. Midlarsky,et al.  Siblings of the Handicapped: A Literature Review for School Psychologists. , 1985 .

[56]  S. Rodger.  Siblings of Handicapped Children: A Population at Risk? , 1985 .

[57]  S. Waisbren.  Parents' reactions after the birth of a developmentally disabled child. , 1980, American journal of mental deficiency.

[58]  W. Barbe.  The exceptional child , 1963 .

[59]  A. Solnit,et al.  Mourning and the Birth of a Defective Child1 , 1961 .