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Publication Date
2025
Document Type
Poster
Degree Type
Undergraduate
Department
Family and Consumer Sciences
Mentor
Dr. Luke Russell
Mentor Department
Family and Consumer Sciences
Abstract
An estimated 20.8% of U.S. children have a special health care need (SHCN) that requires ongoing treatment via medication, counseling services, therapeutic supports, or assistance navigating functional limitations (Child and Adolescent Health Measurement Initiative, 2022). Such diagnoses often cause stress and demand change from diagnosed individuals, but also from close family members, including siblings (Hayden & Hastings, 2022). Well siblings, unfortunately, are sometimes excluded or neglected when parents quite reasonably seek to respond to crises of new (or ongoing) health challenges in one of their children (Hanvey et al., 2022). Though diagnoses can introduce distance and difficulty, there is also evidence that siblings can often be critical confidants, supports, and resources in the context of chronic illness (Avieli et al., 2019; Havey et al., 2022; Fullerton et al., 2016) This project seeks to examine what differentiates such experiences among siblings, and identify strategies for creating supportive, close, or beneficial sibling relationships in the context of chronic illness, whether mental, developmental, and/or physical. We are specifically examining how special healthcare needs can hold consequences for sibling relationships from childhood through emerging adulthood and uncover ways family members and health professionals can support positive sibling relationships within these contexts.
Overall, our primary research questions are: How do siblings navigate and experience chronic conditions during childhood through emerging adulthood? And how can siblings, caregivers, or other adults facilitate the creation or maintenance of supportive, close, or beneficial sibling relationships in the context of chronic conditions?
Recommended Citation
Sulak, Meg; Russell, Luke; Castro, Hallie; Smith, Sierra; and Brower, Bailey, "Supporting Youth and Young Adults with Chronic Conditions" (2025). University Research Symposium. 499.
https://ir.library.illinoisstate.edu/rsp_urs/499
