Year: 2004
Type: conference-abstract
Abstract: Introduction: Siblings (sibs) of children with chronic illness are 2 to 3 times more likely than their peers to experience psychological problems. The family environment of a child with inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) is impacted by the unpredictability of flare-ups, nature of symptoms (sxs), rigorous medication regimens, and untoward medication side effects; yet, few studies have examined sibs of children with IBD. The goal of this study is to determine whether somatic and psychological sxs are elevated in sibs of children with IBD compared to peers and whether sib’s sxs are related to age, knowledge of IBD or severity of the child’s IBD. Methods: Participants were 7 sisters (mean age 12 yrs) of children with IBD (mean age 10.4 yrs; 57% female; 57.1% with ulcerative colitis, 42.9% with Crohn’s disease) and 7 controls (mean age 10.4 years, 92.9% female). Of the IBD sibs, 57.1% were older than the IBD child, while 64.3% of controls were older sibs. Parents and sibs completed standardized measures of sib’s somatic and psychological sxs, health care utilization, and school absenteeism. Parents and sibs completed IBD knowledge questionnaires designed for the study. IBD severity was based on structured physician chart review and parent history. One-way analyses of variance and correlational analyses were used to analyze data. Results: Preliminary data from an ongoing study showed IBD sibs had more parent-reported anxiety (F = 4.85, p <.05) than control sibs. IBD sibs had higher rates of sib-reported anxiety, parent- and sib-reported somatic sxs, parent-reported internalizing sxs and health care visits than control sibs, though results did not reach statistical significance with the small sample size. Greater knowledge of IBD in sibs was associated with more severe IBD in the child and greater parent IBD knowledge. Sibs with greater IBD knowledge reported lower levels of psychological distress but higher levels of somatic sxs. Higher somatic sxs in IBD sibs were associated with more recent diagnosis of IBD in the child, higher parent- and sib-reported psychological sxs, more school absences, and more health care visits (all r’s > .30). Conclusion: Though preliminary, these results suggest that sib functioning correlates with sib knowledge of IBD and IBD severity. These findings are of particular importance given the central role families play in adjustment to chronic illness. This study will further our understanding of family factors that promote supportive family environments for children with IBD.
Authors: M. A. Qureshi, D. J. Lobato, W. Plante, J. W. Guite, L. B. Shalon
Institutions: Rhode Island Hospital, Children's Hospital of Philadelphia
Language: English
Topic: Family Support in Illness
Subfield: Sociology and Political Science
Field: Social Sciences
Domain: Social Sciences
Open Access status: bronze
OpenAlex ID: W4390567712