Parental awareness of sibling adjustment: Perspectives of parents and siblings of children with cancer

Childhood cancer is a significant psychosocial stressor, and sibling adjustment ranges from resilience to clinically significant psychopathology. Siblings and parents often describe siblings' psychosocial functioning differently, which may reflect parental unawareness of siblings' adjustment to cancer and increase the risk for negative sibling outcomes. The present study characterizes siblings' and parents' perceptions of parents' awareness of siblings' psychosocial functioning and describes how family functioning influences parental awareness. Parents (N = 13) and siblings (N = 17, ages 8-17) from 13 families completed in-depth qualitative interviews regarding siblings' psychosocial adjustment to cancer. Interviews were coded for dimensions of family functioning based on the McMaster Model and analyzed using applied thematic analysis. Families were stratified based on higher or lower levels of parental awareness (i.e., knowledge of the presence, severity, or content of siblings' cancer-related feelings). Themes related to communication, affective involvement, roles, problem-solving, and affective responsiveness influenced parental awareness. Parental awareness was hindered by siblings' reluctance to communicate their feelings to parents due to the messages they received about cancer (e.g., be positive/helpful), siblings' hesitancy to rely on parents for emotional support, and parents not consistently asking about siblings' emotions. Additionally, parents' cancer-related stress and family disruptions reduced parental focus on siblings and decreased parents' tolerance of siblings' negative emotions. Higher parental awareness was facilitated by closer relationships prediagnosis, consistent communication, and affective problem-solving in response to cancer-related changes. Findings provide a more comprehensive understanding of the family processes underlying parental awareness and inform best practices for sibling assessment and support.