title: A child dies, a child survives: the impact of sibling loss.
abstract: When a child dies, the survivors--both parents and the remaining children--must adapt to a new reality. The immediate effect of sibling death is to precipitate grief and to increase the psychologic vulnerability of the remaining children. Communication patterns within a family in part determine the ease or difficulty with which members are able to live with the death of a child. This article discusses a family-centered approach toward support of siblings in bereavement. Strategies that assist surviving family members to mobilize their own strengths are presented. A review of resources pertaining to sibling loss is included.
authors.forename: M B
authors.initials: MB
authors.lastname: Gibbons
mesh_terms: D000223:Adaptation, Psychological; D000293:Adolescent; D001293:Attitude to Death; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D003142:Communication; D006117:Grief; D006801:Humans; D009730:Nursing Assessment; D010290:Parents / Q000523:psychology; D002666:Psychology, Child; D012801:Sibling Relations