title: Adult female and male siblings of persons with disabilities: findings from a national survey.
abstract: In this study, the authors used a national, Web-based survey to examine female and male siblings of individuals with disabilities. More than 1,160 adult siblings completed a 163-question survey about themselves, their siblings, and their sibling relationships. Most respondents reported fairly close contact with their siblings and positive sibling relationships, good health, and benefits from being a sibling to a brother-sister with disabilities. Compared with men, women reported benefiting more from the sibling relationship. Relative to the U.S. population, female (though not male) siblings married later and divorced less often, and these women had their first child at later ages. Implications are discussed regarding future research and service needs.
authors.affiliation: Vanderbilt Kennedy Center for Research on Human Development, Department of Special Education, Peabody College, Vanderbilt University, Nashville, TN 37203, USA.
authors.forename: Robert M
authors.initials: RM
authors.lastname: Hodapp
authors.forename: Richard C
authors.initials: RC
authors.lastname: Urbano
authors.forename: Meghan M
authors.initials: MM
authors.lastname: Burke
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D001290:Attitude; D017028:Caregivers / Q000523:psychology; D017281:Cost of Illness; D002658:Developmental Disabilities / Q000523:psychology*; D005195:Family Relations; D005260:Female; D006306:Health Surveys; D006801:Humans; D008607:Intellectual Disability / Q000523:psychology*; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D012801:Sibling Relations; D014481:United States; D055815:Young Adult