Interviews were conducted with 52 healthy siblings of children with life-threatening conditions. Significant communication needs of younger children were identified, particularly those of boys. The needs of healthy children varied over time and were related to the time since diagnosis, degree of functional impairment and recent health of their ill sibling. Parents perceived their healthy children to be coping reasonably well with their ill sibling's condition. The implications for clinical practice, the need to communicate information to siblings and the distinction between chronic and life-threatening conditions are discussed.
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Stallard et al. (1997) studied this question.
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