| Description |
Although much research attention has been given to children with cancer and their parents, limited information is available regarding their siblings and the anxieties they may experience. The purpose of this study was to assess the anxieties that school-age siblings of children with caner experience and explore the variables suspected to affect the amount and type of anxiety expressed. Patterned after a study by Waechter (1968, 1970), two measures were utilized to assess anxiety. Sarason's General Anxiety Scale for Children was used to measure general anxiety and a modification of the Thematic Apperception Test was used to measure anxiety regarding body integrity. Thirty-two healthy children between the ages of 6 and 10 years, whose sibling had been treated for cancer within the previous three years, and 28 healthy children, serving as a comparison group, were tested. Results showed that as a group, sibling of children with cancer did not express greater anxiety than children of the comparison group. However, when these same siblings were grouped according to the patient's treatment status, significant differences were noted. Whereas siblings of children currently receiving or have completed treatment did not express greater anxiety, those siblings of children who had died expressed significantly greater anxiety. Sex differences were also noted, with males whose sibling had died expressing significantly greater anxiety. Analyzing, the mother's perceptions of children's behavior changes as an indicator of children's anxiety revealed mild to moderate intermittent changes after diagnosis, but pronounced and sometimes persistent behavior changes after the death of the child. These findings combined with future research with siblings could provide better understanding of anxieties and adaptation processes, and could assist health professionals to provide appropriate intervention and primary prevention for families adapting to life with a potentially life-threatening, potentially curable illness. |
