Sibling support in families where multiple members have been diagnosed with type 1 diabetes

Type 1 diabetes (T1D) requires consistent management. In addition to being distressing for the individual diagnosed with T1D, it also affects the people around them, especially the family. Families members provide support for the person diagnosed with T1D, with parents playing a major role (especially for children) and experiencing diabetes distress. In families where multiple members have been diagnosed with T1D, even more support is needed and it may be coming from other family members, such as siblings. The purpose of this study was to investigate the support that siblings provide to their siblings with T1D when multiple family members have been diagnosed with T1D and how sibling support may reduce parental distress. In addition, the link between sibling support and their distress was examined and how it may be affected by the gender of the sibling and the disease status (with T1D or without T1D) of the sibling. Six families where two or more members had T1D were examined. Individuals completed measures of social support they provided to individuals with T1D and the distress they experienced. HbA1c was gathered by home test kits. The results indicated that sibling support did not decrease parental distress. Gender differences were found in the relation between sibling support and the distress they reported with female siblings reporting less distress when providing more support and male siblings showing more distress when providing more support. T1D status of the sibling also affected the link between support and distress where siblings without T1D experienced more distress when providing more support to their sibling with T1D and those with T1D the opposite. The results suggest that sibling support may be associated with distress differently by gender and disease status. More research should be done to look at ways to decrease parental distress and to further investigate the support role of siblings in families where multiple members have T1D.