A STUDY OF THE INTERRELATIONSHIP OF SOCIAL AND PSYCHOLOGICAL ADJUSTMENT AND PERCEIVED QUALITY OF SIBLING RELATIONSHIPS OF ADOLESCENTS WITH ASTHMA

The study explored interrelations between social and psychological adaptation and sibling relationships in adolescents with asthma. 95 adolescents diagnosed with asthma were examined, 50 of them had one or more siblings. The social and psychological adaptation questionnaire developed by K. Rodgers and R. Diamond and Brother-Sister Questionnaire (BSQ) were administered on these adolescents. Study revealed that adolescents with asthma who had siblings had also higher rates of adaptability, self-acceptance, acceptance of others and internality and lower rates of emotional discomfort and feeling of being driven. Direct correlation was found between empathic sibling relationships and level of adaptability and self-acceptance of adolescents and inverse correlation between sibling compulsion and adaptation, self-acceptance and acceptance of others. The results of the study highlight how meaningful could be the active participation of healthy sibling in the process of psychosocial adaptation of children with asthma. Sibling relationships represent very important external resource helping improve adaptability and decrease the negative influence of illness on child development.