PSYCHOLOGICAL DISTRESS AMONG SIBLINGS OF CHILDREN WITH AUTISM SPECTRUM DISORDER IN RIVERS STATE NIGERIA

Abstract

Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASDs) refer to a range of conditions characterized by some degree of impaired social behavior, communication and language, and a narrow range of interests and activities that are both unique to the individual and carried out repetitively. Most mental health research on ASD have focused solely on children affected by autism and their parents to the neglect of the other children within the family whose well-being may be affected by difficulties related to their sibling affected by autism. Similarly, the main focus of interventions for families with children with autism tend to be on the affected child and parents. The interventions do not extend to other healthy children within the family who, although not primary caregivers live with and bear some of the burden (psychological if not physical) associated with living with a child affected by autism. This study was carried out with the aim of assessing if having a sibling with autism spectrum disorder predisposes a child to psychological distress compared with not having a sibling with autism. The study was carried out in Port Harcourt, Rivers State Nigeria. Methodology: The study was a cross-sectional case-control study that involved 48 participants in Port Harcourt, Rivers State Nigeria. Cases were 16 siblings of children with autism and controls were 32 siblings of children without autism (i.e 1:2 case-control design). The two groups were closely matched for age and gender. In addition to a socio-demographic questionnaire, participants completed the Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire (a measure of psychological distress), Children‟s Hope Scale, Short Moods and Feelings Questionnaire (a measure of depressive symptoms) Beck Anxiety InventoryResults: Respondents' mean age was 11.56 years (SD = 2.9). There were 16 male respondents of which; 7 of the 16 (43.7%) were siblings of children with autism and 9 out of 32 (28.1%) were siblings of regular children without autism, Of the 32 female respondents, 9 out of the 16 (56.3%) were siblings of children with autism and 23 of 32 (71.9%) were siblings of regular children without autism. The majority of the mothers and fathers in both groups were married, had a university education and worked in professional jobs. Siblings of children with autism (cases) and siblings of children without autism (controls) did not differ significantly on Wealth rating (an index of socioeconomic status) or on any other outcome measures (Strength and Difficulties, Children‟s Hope Scale, Short Moods and Feelings and Beck Anxiety Inventory).. Conclusion: The study‟s findings suggest that siblings of children with autism are no more likely to be psychologically distressed when compared with siblings of children without autism. This may indicate a level of resilience among the siblings of children with autism. The resilience factors may include the fact that most of the children came from intact families with well-educated parents who work professional jobs. It is recommended that this study be replicated with a larger sample size that is more typical of the average Nigerian family to determine the generalizability of the findings