Family Functioning and Child Behavior When a Sibling is Critically Ill

Family Functioning and Child Behavior When a Sibling is Critically Ill

The goal of this study is to determine if there is a correlation between an efficacious family environment and sibling behavior in families with children who are critically ill.

Families of critically ill children can face many emotional challenges during the course of a child's illness. While some research has looked at the impact on parents, there has been little focused on siblings. We want to better understand how social support may have a protective effect on siblings' quality of life. The goal of this study is to determine if there is a correlation between an efficacious family environment and sibling behavior in families with children who are critically ill. Our hypothesis is that a cohesive, emotionally rich and open family environment provides social support so that siblings can explore and express the difficult emotions that accompany illness, and is therefore a protective factor for a sibling's behavior.

Inclusion Criteria:

• adult (age 18 and older) who has decision making authority for CHOP patient who has been referred to the Pediatric Advanced Care Team (PACT) for palliative care services, and with a child(ren) age 6-11 years who is a sibling of the patient
• any race/ethnicity

Exclusion Criteria:

• Non-English speaking