Sibling relationship of children with chronic illness and their mothers' self-perception

The sibling relationship of children with chronic illness was studied with special reference to maternal self-perception by interview and questionnaire in 24 mothers and 28 siblings, while medical information was collected from their doctors. Results were: 1) There was no significant relationship between siblings' attitude and patients' age, gender as well as degree of performance status of activity; 2) Twenty-one % of the siblings did not understand their mothers' explanation of the patients' illness; and 3) Siblings of patients whose mother had high scores of self-perception had more positive attitudes than those with low scores. These results suggest that developmental age, conversation between siblings and mothers's self-perception should be considered in counseling for mothers with chronically ill children.