Sibling Relationships of Children With Disabled and Nondisabled Brothers and Sisters

Goals were to compare children with and without mentally retarded (MR) siblings in terms of their sibling relations and adjustment and to examine the links between these constructs. S s were 62 children (M age = 12 years), half with and half without a younger MR sibling. Children and mothers evaluated children's adjustment and sibling relations in home interviews and in 7 telephone calls described the child's sibling activities, household tasks, and negative maternal and sibling interactions that day. Children with MR siblings reported more caregiving, more maternal negativity, and poorer adjustment. Caregiving, sibling and maternal negativity, and child's satisfaction with parents' differential treatment of self compared with sibling were associated with adjustment.