Sibling Warmth, Coping, and Distress among Emerging-Adult Siblings of Individuals with and without Autism

Yu, Shuqi S. Y.

Sibling Warmth, Coping, and Distress among Emerging-Adult Siblings of Individuals with and without Autism

dc.contributor.author	Yu, Shuqi S. Y.	en
dc.contributor.committeechair	Shivers, Carolyn	en
dc.contributor.committeemember	Scarpa, Angela	en
dc.contributor.committeemember	Smith, Cynthia C. S.	en
dc.contributor.committeemember	Choi, Koeun K. C.	en
dc.contributor.department	Human Development	en
dc.date.accessioned	2021-06-21T20:12:00Z	en
dc.date.available	2021-06-21T20:12:00Z	en
dc.date.issued	2021	en
dc.description.abstract	Sibling relationships have been proven to be influential to the well-being of emerging adults. However, the diversity of individuals, particularly in regard to siblings of individuals with disabilities, has rarely been examined. Therefore, the current study explored the association among sibling relationships, coping, and well-being of emerging adults who have non-disabled siblings or autistic siblings. A single online survey was distributed to people between 18-25 who have non-disabled siblings or autistic siblings. The results found that siblings of autistic individuals reported significantly less sibling warmth, less gratitude, and more emotion suppression than siblings of a non-disabled brother or sister. In addition, optimism, gratitude, and emotion suppression were mediators that affected how sibling warmth related to individual’s distress. Furthermore, optimism and gratitude could be mediators that influenced the relationship between sibling warmth and individual’s resilience. In conclusion, the current study proposed that the difference of coping styles may be the underlying mechanism of worse well-being of siblings, and more perceived sibling warmth may be a buffer for ASD-Sibs’ resilience and coping.	en
dc.description.abstractgeneral	Sibling relationships can provide great supports for people during emerging adulthood (18-25 years old). The current study explored how sibling relationships affected emerging adults’ distress. We recruited non-disabled individuals who had an autistic sibling or a non-disabled sibling, and distributed them into ASD-group and ND-group correspondingly. There were 26 participants in ASD-group and 73 participants in ND-group. We found that people who had autistic siblings reported less sibling warmth, gratitude attitude, and more emotion suppression compared to people who had non-disabled siblings. We also found that sibling warmth affected distress by influencing optimism, gratitude, and emotion suppression. In addition, sibling warmth affected individual’s resilience by influencing optimism and gratitude. In conclusion, we proposed that for emerging adults who had an autistic sibling, clinical practitioners should focus more on their coping styles and their sibling relationships.	en
dc.description.degree	M.S.	en
dc.format.medium	ETD	en
dc.format.mimetype	application/pdf	en
dc.identifier.uri	http://hdl.handle.net/10919/103937	en
dc.language.iso	en_US	en
dc.publisher	Virginia Tech	en
dc.rights	Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International	en
dc.rights.uri	http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/	en
dc.subject	autism	en
dc.subject	sibling relationships	en
dc.subject	emerging adulthood	en
dc.subject	coping mechanisms	en
dc.title	Sibling Warmth, Coping, and Distress among Emerging-Adult Siblings of Individuals with and without Autism	en
dc.type	Thesis	en
thesis.degree.discipline	Human Development and Family Science	en
thesis.degree.grantor	Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University	en
thesis.degree.level	masters	en
thesis.degree.name	M.S.	en