Changes in Siblings Over Time After the Death of a Brother or Sister From Cancer.
Terrah Foster Akard, Micah A Skeens, Christine A Fortney and 7 others
PMID 29489479WHAT IT FOUND
After a child's death from cancer, siblings showed mixed changes over 2 years.
Some reported more maturity, sadness, schoolwork changes, relationship shifts, or no changes. Openness about the death emerged at 2 years.
Key findings
01Siblings more frequently reported changes in maturity at 2 years compared with 1 year post-death, the only statistically significant change.
02A new theme of openness emerged at T2: Four siblings, 1 mother, and 1 father reported more open communication about thoughts and feelings.
03Reported changes were mixed: siblings more often reported sadness, openness, life priorities, and no changes at T2, while parents reported more peer changes and distant family relationships.
STILL TO COME
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What it does not show
Only 27 families participated at both visits, and only two-thirds of families who took part at T1 also took part at T2. Most participants were White and English-speaking, and all families were bereaved after a child's death from cancer, so findings may not generalise. Quantitative comparisons used small frequency counts, so McNemar test results should be interpreted cautiously. Themes were not checked with participants through member checking. Greater maturity may reflect normal development, because siblings were approximately one year older at T2.
Declared interests
No conflicts of interest or funding statement is included in the supplied text. The publication types indicate N.I.H. extramural research support.
The easy way to misread this
Do not read the statistically significant increase in sibling-reported maturity as proof that bereavement caused maturity. The significance was only for siblings' self-reports, not parent reports, and normal development could explain it.