Impact of sibling composition on psychological distress of parents having children with developmental coordination disorder

Jie Ying Tay, Pin-Chi Huang, Tsai-Jie Lin, Yao-Chuen Li
Purpose:

This study aimed to assess psychological stress of parents with a child who has DCD and whether having siblings would decrease parental psychological distress. 

Methods:

A total of 115 children, aged 4 to 6 years, were assessed using the Movement Assessment Battery for Children-2nd Edition (MABC-2). Twenty-two children who scored at or below the 16th percentile were identified as DCD. All children were further categorized into four groups: DCD with sibling (n=18), DCD without sibling (n=4), typically developing (TD) with sibling (n=77), and TD without sibling (n=16). Additionally, the Chinese version of the Kessler-6 Scale (K6) was completed by parents (i.e., main caregiver) to assess their psychological distress. Two-way ANOVA was conducted to examine the main effects of group (DCD vs. TD) and sibling status (with vs. without siblings), as well as the interaction of group by sibling status, on parental psychological distress. 

Results:

Neither significant main effects of group (p=0.470) and sibling status (p=0.617) nor the significant interaction (p=0.470) was found on parental psychological distress. However, while raw data were inspected, parental psychological distress in the DCD group was greater than that in the TD group (K6: 5.32 vs. 4.05). Furthermore, while sibling status was taken into account, a completely different patterns were found, showing that parental psychological distress was greater if a child had siblings in the DCD group (K6: 5.56 vs. 4.25), while it was lower if a child had siblings in the TD group (K6: 4.01 vs. 4.25). 

Conclusion(s):

There were no significant differences in parental psychological distress in pairwise comparisons of either group or sibling status. However, parental psychological distress was greater in the DCD than in the TD group. Specifically, if a child with DCD has siblings, their parents may further experience a higher level of psychological distress. 

Implications:

While managing motor coordination problems in children with DCD, physiotherapists or other health professionals should pay more attention to the psychological distress of their parents if they have siblings. Therefore, a family-centered intervention needs to be provided to alleviate the level of parental psychological distress.

Funding acknowledgements:
This study was supported by the National Science and Technology Council, Taiwan (NSTC 112-2410-H-039-006-MY2) and China Medical University, Taiwan (CMU112-MF-95).
Keywords:
developmental coordination disorder
psychological distress
sibling
Primary topic:
Paediatrics
Did this work require ethics approval?:
Yes
Name the institution and ethics committee that approved your work:
Institutional Research Board of China Medical University Hospital
Provide the ethics approval number:
CRREC-108-021
Has any of this material been/due to be published or presented at another national or international conference prior to the World Physiotherapy Congress 2025?:
No

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