Journal of Family Nursing

Although considerable research exists concerning families raising children with disabilities, relatively little work has examined the linkages between parent and sibling functioning. The purpose of this study, therefore, was to investigate the relationship between parental perceptions of family functioning and school-aged siblings' social skills and problem behaviors. A purposive sample of 78 sets of parents and their school-aged children participated. Half of the families were raising a child with a disability, and half of the families were not raising a child with a disability. Mothers and fathers completed the Porter-O'Leary Scale and Bloom's Family Functioning Measure. Teachers of the school-aged children completed a modification of the Gresham and Elliot Social Skills Rating System. Results indicated siblings of both groups demonstrate more social skills than problem behaviors, and siblings of children with disabilities were higher in cooperation and self-control than siblings of children without disabilities. Hierarchical regression analyses revealed fathers' perceptions of family conflict and external locus of control orientation, and mothers' perceptions of marital conflict predicted externalizing behaviors for female siblings of children with a disability.

Disability or chronic illness in a child creates stressors and new demands for all family members. Most research has focused on the parental perspective. There are little data from children themselves regarding daily coping responses related to living with a brother or sister with disabilities. In this study, 46 siblings of children with disabilities responded verbally to a sentence-completion activity regarding coping responses to stressful situations of everyday life. Content analysis of these reports revealed coping responses according to four categories of modes of reaction: proactive, interactive, internally reactive, and nonactive. Such recognition of siblings' daily coping responses is a first step in the promotion of positive adaptation and health.

This study examined self-perception and family functioning in healthy school-age siblings of children with asthma and diabetes. The 135 siblings completed the Family APGAR for Children and the Self-Perception Profile for Children. Results indicated that siblings of children with diabetes were at risk for self-perception problems in the areas of scholastic competence and global self-worth. Male sibling pairs in the diabetes group had lower self-perception scores than male pairs in the asthma group; whereas, female sibling pairs in the diabetes group had lower family functioning scores than female pairs in the asthma or healthy groups. For the siblings in the diabetes group, physical appearance, athletic competence, behavioral conduct, scholastic competence, and global self-worth were significantly associated with family functioning. Results support inclusion of self-perception and family functioning as important indicators of healthy sibling adjustment.

The care of women and newborns with prenatal drug and alcohol exposure has been widely recognized as a significant health and social issue. There are wide variations in the values, beliefs, and knowledge regarding perinatal substance misuse in health and child welfare professionals and when contrasted to the field of sociology. Sociology and critical social theory provide an alternative to a traditional medical perspective by using a contextual lens through which to move beyond the “medicalization” of health and illness toward an understanding that considers the historical, political, and social interpretations of perinatal substance misuse. However, the medical and critical social perspectives are often seen as incommensurable. This discussion of the health issues related to perinatal substance misuse and the analysis from a critical social perspective are provided as an attempt to move communities away from rhetoric and toward development of effective, supportive interventions that meet the health and social needs of substance-using women and their children.

This study describes wives' self-reports of preparedness to care for their husbands' physical and emotional needs during the first 6 months after surgery for prostate cancer. The research questions addressed in this article are part of a larger study designed to test the effects of a standardized nursing intervention protocol (SNIP) on quality-of-life outcomes in men postprostatectomy. The Preparedness for Caregiving Scale (PCGS) was administered to wives, and an open-ended questionnaire solicited wives' descriptions of how they felt unprepared. The results suggest that nursing services are needed after hospital discharge to support patients and family caregivers to manage the physical and emotional effects related to the cancer diagnosis and treatment. The information gained can be used to refine a home-based nursing intervention to facilitate caregivers' preparedness to enhance patients' physical function and psychosocial adaptation, and ultimately the couple's quality of life.