Prentice Caitlin M, Fjermestad Krister, Haukeland Yngvild Bjartveit, Vatne Torun M
Department of Psychology, University of Oslo, Oslo, Norway.
Frambu Competence Centre for Rare Disorders, Siggerud, Norway.
Child Care Health Dev. 2025 Mar;51(2):e70039. doi: 10.1111/cch.70039.
School-aged siblings of children with chronic disorders, including somatic, neurodevelopmental and psychological diagnoses, are at a small but significant risk of experiencing psychosocial difficulties. It is unclear whether this is the case for such siblings when they are preschool age.
This scoping review examined research describing psychosocial challenges and adaptation among preschool-aged children who have a sibling with a chronic disorder, and interventions aimed to serve this population.
We searched online databases for peer-reviewed studies published between 1998 and 2024 and identified 18 studies that reported psychosocial functioning such as psychological states, mental health variables and descriptions of experiences for 3- to 6-year-olds who were siblings of children with a neurodevelopmental disorder, somatic illness, mental illness or rare genetic disorder.
Of the 18 studies included, 15 were related to siblings of autistic children, and 12 of these aimed to study the development of autism in infants. Only two intervention studies were identified, and these had very small samples with maximum three participants in the 3- to 6-year-old age range.
Results across the included studies suggest that preschool-aged siblings may be at an increased risk of psychosocial difficulties, but it was difficult to draw definitive conclusions due to the large proportion of included studies related to the development of autism and the heterogeneity of study types represented. Future research should focus on the psychosocial functioning of preschool-aged siblings and target preschool-aged siblings of children with chronic disorders beyond autism.
患有慢性疾病（包括躯体疾病、神经发育障碍和心理疾病）儿童的学龄期兄弟姐妹面临着虽小但显著的心理社会困难风险。目前尚不清楚这种情况在这些兄弟姐妹处于学龄前时是否同样存在。
本综述研究了描述患有慢性疾病的兄弟姐妹的学龄前儿童所面临的心理社会挑战和适应情况的研究，以及旨在服务这一人群的干预措施。
我们在在线数据库中搜索了1998年至2024年间发表的同行评审研究，确定了18项研究，这些研究报告了患有神经发育障碍、躯体疾病、精神疾病或罕见遗传疾病的儿童的3至6岁兄弟姐妹的心理社会功能，如心理状态、心理健康变量和经历描述。
在纳入的18项研究中，15项与自闭症儿童的兄弟姐妹有关，其中12项旨在研究婴儿自闭症的发展。仅确定了两项干预研究，且这些研究样本量非常小，3至6岁年龄组最多有三名参与者。
纳入研究的结果表明，学龄前兄弟姐妹可能面临更高的心理社会困难风险，但由于纳入研究中很大一部分与自闭症发展相关，且研究类型具有异质性，因此难以得出明确结论。未来的研究应关注学龄前兄弟姐妹的心理社会功能，并针对自闭症以外患有慢性疾病儿童的学龄前兄弟姐妹。
