title: The wellbeing of siblings of children with disabilities.
abstract: (1) to estimate the extent of differences in wellbeing between siblings of children with disabilities or long-term health conditions and siblings of 'typically developing' children in a nationally representative cohort of Australian children (the Longitudinal Study of Australian Children); (2) to determine whether any between-group differences in wellbeing may be potentially attributable to between-group differences in exposure to socio-economic disadvantage. The results of our analyses were consistent with the existing literature in indicating that, in unadjusted comparisons, the siblings of children with long-term health conditions or disabilities: (1) had lower wellbeing than their peers on some, but not all, indicators of wellbeing; and (2) that where differences did exist the effect sizes were small. Our results add to the existing literature in: (1) indicating that adjusting for between-group differences in exposure to low SEP and associated adversities eliminated the statistical significance of unadjusted comparisons in the majority of instances; and (2) failing to find any evidence of deterioration over time in the wellbeing of siblings with long-term health conditions or disabilities over a two-year period from age 4/5 to age 6/7.
authors.affiliation: Centre for Disability Research & Policy, The University of Sydney, Sydney, New South Wales 2006, Australia. Electronic address: eric.emerson@lancaster.ac.uk.
authors.forename: Eric
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Emerson
authors.affiliation: Murdoch Children's Research Institute, Royal Children's Hospital, Flemington Road, Parkville, Victoria 3052, Australia; RMIT University, GPO Box 2476, Melbourne, Victoria 3001, Australia.
authors.forename: Rebecca
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Giallo
mesh_terms: D016022:Case-Control Studies; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D002908:Chronic Disease; D002658:Developmental Disabilities; D005191:Family Characteristics; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008137:Longitudinal Studies; D008297:Male; D010549:Personal Satisfaction; D035781:Siblings / Q000523:psychology*; D012923:Social Class; D012931:Social Environment; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires
keywords: Childhood; Disability; Emotional and behavioural difficulties; Mental health; Siblings