The sibling relationship, empathy, and interpersonal problems: Adult siblings of individuals with diabetes

This study examined the sibling relationship, empathy, and interpersonal problems among adult siblings of individuals with Type I diabetes. Participants were adults raised in the same household as their sibling with Type I diabetes. A comparison group of individuals raised with medically healthy siblings was also included. Data were gathered via the Internet. No significant differences between groups on demographic variables were found. Pearson correlation analyses indicated that affective, behavioral, and cognitive characterizations of the sibling relationship in childhood were positively correlated with those in adulthood for both groups. A significant positive correlation between cognitive and affective characterizations of the sibling relationship in childhood and cognitive empathy in adulthood was found for the Type I diabetes group only. The domineering octant of the IIP-SC was negatively correlated with cognitive and affective empathy for both groups, and with affective characterizations of the sibling relationship in childhood for the Type I diabetes group. The cold octant of the IIP-SC was negatively correlated with behavioral and cognitive characterizations of the sibling relationship in childhood for the Type I diabetes group. Results of multivariate analyses of variance revealed no significant differences between groups on the research variables. Finally, multiple regression analyses revealed that being raised with a sibling with Type I diabetes was not related to interpersonal problems in adulthood. This study is a first step in understanding the experience, in childhood and adulthood, of adult siblings of individuals with Type I diabetes, particularly with respect to empathy and interpersonal problems