Attiya Inam, Rukhsana Kausar, Muhammad Abiodullah.
Does having a Sibling with Autism affect one\'s Self Concept? An Empirical Research.
Isra Med J Jan ;9(3):166-70.

OBJECTIVES: To compare the self-concept of typical siblings of children with autism with siblings of normal children in the context of their mothers' psychological well-being. STUDY DESIGN: A Comparative cross sectional study. st PLACE AND DURATION: The study was conducted from 1 Oct 2011 to 31srt March 2013 in different Institutes dealing with children with autism in Lahore. METHOD: Children with autism were identified from institutes catering to children with special needs and those meeting the inclusion criteria were recruited. Their typical siblings and their counterparts were than assessed for their self-concept. Mothers were assessed for their psychological well-being. RESULTS: It was found that self-concept of typical siblings of children with autism was significantly poorer than siblings of normal children. The mothers of children with autism were more stressed than the mothers of normal children. Presence of a child with autism was a significant predictor of poor self-concept, behavioral mal-adjustment and scholastic status, popularity, happiness and satisfaction related self concept of siblings. CONCLUSION: The difference between the self-concept of the siblings from the two groups can be attributed to the presence of the child with Autism.

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