Effective Support for the Siblings of Children with Autism Spectrum Disorder: A rapid systematic review

Some siblings of children with autism spectrum disorders (ASD) face internalized issues, such as anxiety or stress, because of communication difficulties with their siblings with ASD. Little is known about how these siblings adjust to their daily life, how ASD severity will affect their adjustments, and how the self-efficacy of siblings of children with ASD will work as a mediating factor for the sibling’s adjustment, especially what type of intervention programs are offered. A rapid systematic was conducted to examine factors affecting siblings of children with ASD, including parental psychological states, such as depression or stress, and socio-economic factors. Pubmed and PsycINFO databases were used, including the key search terms“autism,” “siblings,” adjustment,” “severity of autism,” and “self-efficacy.” A total of 456 articles were identified by the initial search, and 26 articles were assessed to full text screened. Five articles were identified for the final review. Three types of interventions for siblings of children with ASD were identified: 1) psychoeducational interventions, 2) family interventions, and 3) self-management skill interventions. These interventions effectively improved the siblings’ adjustment; however, there was still a lack of information about the impact on the parental psychological and socio-economical factors. Future studies will be required to determine the most effective types of intervention based on individual needs of siblings of children with ASD