Ethnicity Impacts Sibling Experience

Cultural factors may play a significant role in defining the outcomes of siblings of those with developmental disabilities, a new study finds, affecting whether or not siblings experience anxiety, trouble with school and other challenges.
In a study of 200 siblings ages 8 to 15 — half of whom had a brother or sister with a disability and half of whom had a typically developing sibling — researchers found that Latino siblings of those with developmental disabilities were significantly more likely than other children to internalize anxiety and other psychological issues.
What’s more, Latino children were reluctant to share negative feelings about their sibling’s disability and they exhibited a higher rate of school absences and lower academic grades, according to the study published online in the Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry. These children also had more difficulty with coping skills and in dealing with their parents.