„Supporting Siblings“: Evaluation eines Lebenskompetenztrainings für Geschwister von chronisch kranken und/oder behinderten Kindern

Psychosocial well-being and quality of life in siblings of children with congenital heart disease: A systematic review

Congenital heart disease (CHD) is a major global health problem. Until recently, the siblings of this group did not receive much attention. This review, conducted from November 2019 to October 2020, aims to summarize knowledge about psychosocial well-being and quality of life (QoL), associated factors, and interventions for siblings of children with CHD. Systematic searches were conducted in PubMed, PsycINFO, PsycARTICLES, Web of Science via EBSCOhost, and CENTRAL. Twelve articles were included. Results showed that psychosocial well-being was impaired in 14% to 40% of siblings. Negative impact of illness was highest for CHD siblings compared to siblings of children with cancer, cystic fibrosis, or diabetes. QoL was impaired in up to one-third. Siblings of children with CHD and cancer rated their QoL lower than those of siblings of children with cystic fibrosis or type-1 diabetes. Associated factors were sibling age, gender, socioeconomic status, miscarriage, previous sibling death, visibility of illness, and severity of condition. Only one of two interventions focused on siblings of CHD children. Although data are scarce and inhomogeneous, it indicates that siblings of CHD children suffer from lower psychosocial well-being and QoL than siblings of children with other chronic conditions. Interventions to improve their situation should be developed.

[I'm still here - Training for the Siblings of Chronically Ill or Handicapped Children]

BACKGROUND

Siblings of chronically ill or handicapped children are exposed to increased stress as a result of their special life situation. This can lead to psychological abnormalities. International studies show that programs for siblings can reduce this risk. In Germany, there is a lack of compact educational programs for siblings. Such an offer was tested with this workshop. In the one-day group training, coping strategies were developed and disease knowledge conveyed in order to reduce fears. The parents receive parallel training.

METHODS

Altogether 19 sibling workshops were held. Before and six weeks after the training, standardized questionnaires were used to record sibling distress, mental health problems, and their health-related quality of life as well as family burden. T-tests for dependent samples were used to check the changes before and after training.

RESULTS

Ninety-two children (average age 9.6 years; 54% female) and their parents took part in the training. From the parents' point of view, 32.5% of the children initially had an increased risk of psychological distress because of the family situation. After the training, this was reduced to 25.3%. The mental health problems were significantly reduced, as was the overall family burden. According to the self-assessment, the quality of life of the children improved.

DISCUSSION

The families seem to benefit from the compact training. The workshop was applicable for families of children with different diseases and in different settings.

Stressverarbeitungsfragebogen für Kinder und Jugendliche (SVF-KJ)

Zusammenfassung. Der Stressverarbeitungsfragebogen für Kinder und Jugendliche (SVF-KJ) erhebt die soziale und schulische Stressverarbeitung über 9 Subtests und 36 Items. Der Gültigkeitsbereich wurde in der aktuellen Version von 2016 auf die Altersspanne von 8 bis 16 Jahre erweitert. Ferner wurden 4 Items geringfügig angepasst und aktuelle Normen wurden erhoben. Die Normwerte und psychometrischen Gütekriterien wurden bei N = 1 087 Kindern und Jugendlichen ermittelt. Befunde von konfirmatorischen Faktorenanalysen bestätigten die Zuordnung der Items zu den Subtests, die sich in früheren exploratorischen Faktorenanalysen ergeben hatten. Korrelationsanalysen sprechen für eine hinreichend divergente Validität gegenüber dem Konstrukt „Emotionsregulation“. Schließlich wurde an einer Teilstichprobe von N = 374 deutschen Kindern und Jugendlichen die interne Konstruktvalidität bekräftigt, indem erwartungskonforme Geschlechts- und Altersunterschiede nachgewiesen wurden. Insgesamt unterstützen die weiteren Analysen, dass der SVF-KJ die Stressverarbeitungsdispositionen im Kindes- und Jugendalter valide erfasst.