Investigating the behaviours of healthy children who have A sibling with TYPE diabetes and affecting factors

Objective: This research was done with the aim of investigating the behaviours of healthy children who have a sibling with Type 1 diabetes and affecting factors. Material and Method: This relational screening and analytical research was carried out with the mothers (n=147) of Type 1 diabetic children who were registered in the Pediatric Endocrine Polyclinics of three hospitals and with the healthy siblings (N=634) who were between the ages of 7 and 18, who didn't have any chronic illnesses and accepted to take part in the research (n=147). Data collection tools were; "Child and Family Identification Form", "Sibling Problems Questionnaire (KPA), "Schaeffer Sibling Behavioral Assessment Scale (SKDDO) – Sibling Forms and Mother Forms". In the evaluation of the data; mean ± standart deviation (Mean±SD) and percentage distribution, Kruskal-Wallis and Mann-Whitney U test and Chi-Square test were used. Findings: The average age of the healthy children included in the research was 12,30±3,4; 54,4% of them were females,and it was determined that 53,1% of them had training on diabetes management. As a result of the analyses made, it was determined that healthy siblings who received training on diabetes management had less problems with their Type 1 diabetic siblings (p=0.025; p<0.05). For healthy siblings; according to the subdimensions of SKDO, the condition of healthy sibling's having training on diabetes management affected "Being Polite Dimension", "Togetherness-Caring Dimension" and "Physical Aggression Dimension" (p<0.05); the condition of Type 1 diabetic sibling's attending to school affected "Togetherness-Caring Dimension", educational status affected "Aloofness-Abashment Dimension", "Togetherness-Caring Dimension" and "Empathy Dimension" (p<0.05). For mothers; according to the subdimensions of SKDO, the place where healthy sibling lived affected "Togetherness-Caring Dimension", the condition of having training on diabetes management affected "Being Polite Dimension", "Togetherness-Caring Dimension" and "Physical Aggression Dimension" (p<0.05); the condition of diabetic sibling's attending to school affected "Togetherness-Caring Dimension" , educational status affected "Togetherness-Caring Dimension" and "Physical Aggression Dimension", the status of checking blood glucose and performing insulin practices by himself affected "Togetherness-Caring Dimension" (p<0.05). Significance was found as p<0,05, p<0,01 and p<0,001. Conclusion: This research showed that the behaviours of healthy children who have a Type 1 diabetic sibling change according to their status of having any training on diabetes management and that their behaviours are also affected by a lot of factors. Key Words: Type 1 Diabetes Child, Healthy Sibling, Nursing