The Psychosocial Effects of Having a Sibling with Autism Spectrum Disorder

Siblings play an important role in one another’s overall development; thus, the sibling relationship is an important subsystem within the family unit. However, in families where one child has an autism spectrum disorder diagnosis, the dynamics between siblings may be different than in families with typically developing children due to the associated deficits in communication. Therefore, this mixed-method study examined the perceptions of six typically developing children regarding their relationship with a sibling with autism. Parents were heterosexual couples, and families were white and mostly middle class. Semi-structured interviews and questionnaires regarding the sibling relationship were administered to the typically developing child. Identification of major themes followed by focused coding was conducted to capture the essence of what was said and to categorize the most frequent themes. Overall, typically developing children highlighted both positive and negative features of their relationships, for example play, feeling proud, embarrassment, and anger. Additionally, children seemed to be at a loss for coping strategies they considered helpful, perhaps due to their own poor and/or developing emotional regulation skills. The findings emphasize the need to support typically developing children and their personal and social development.