Abstract:
Paediatric CFS/ME is a stressor, which affects not only the sufferer but also the whole family. The sibling bond exerts a great influence on all the children in the family. Healthy siblings are often overlooked as attention is focused on the child with CFS/ME or other chronic illness. Individual children react in different ways to serious illness in another sibling by adopting a variety of coping mechanisms. There is a need for health and education professionals to consider the whole family when caring for and working with a child with CFS/ME.
Source: Jackson EL. The effects on siblings in families with a child with chronic fatigue syndrome. J Child Health Care. 1999 Summer;3(2):27-32. http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/10451339