Background: Since siblings of pediatric cancer patients are at risk for emotional, behavioral, and social problems,\r\nthere is considerable interest in development of early psychological interventions. This paper aimed at evaluating\r\nthe effectiveness of a two-session psychological intervention for siblings of newly diagnosed pediatric cancer\r\npatients.\r\nMethods: Thirty siblings age 6-17 years were randomly assigned to an intervention group or an active control\r\ngroup with standard psychosocial care. The manualized intervention provided to siblings in the first 2 months after\r\nthe cancer diagnosis of the ill child included medical information, promotion of coping skills, and a\r\npsychoeducational booklet for parents. At 4 to 6 weeks, 4 months, and 7 months after the diagnosis, all siblings\r\nand their parents completed measures (from standardized instruments) of social support, quality of life, medical\r\nknowledge, posttraumatic stress symptoms, and anxiety.\r\nResults: At follow-up siblings in the intervention group showed better psychological well-being, had better\r\nmedical knowledge, and reported receiving social support from more people. However, the intervention had no\r\neffects on posttraumatic stress symptoms and anxiety.\r\nConclusions: The results of this pilot trial suggest that a two-session sibling intervention can improve siblings�\r\nadjustment, particularly psychological well-being, in the early stage after a cancer diagnosis.
Loading....