Siblings' experiences of childhood acquired brain injury
Research type
Research Study
Full title
Exploring siblings' relationships with their brother or sister with an acquired brain injury
IRAS ID
161002
Contact name
Emma Tyerman
Contact email
Sponsor organisation
Lancaster University
Duration of Study in the UK
0 years, 8 months, 31 days
Research summary
The research aims to increase understanding of siblings' experiences of their relationships with their brother and sister who has had an acquired brain injury (ABI).
In particular the research seeks to understand children's perspectives on any change in their relationship that may have occurred since their sibling's injury and how this affects them.An ABI was defined by the UK Acquired Brain Injury Forum as ‘A non-degenerative injury to the brain occurring since birth. It can be caused by an external physical force or by metabolic derangement’ (UK Acquired Brain Injury Forum, 2014). The effects of an acquired brain injury are varied and are experienced differently by individuals but can include physical and/or cognitive impairments, and emotional and behavioural changes. This can have a significant impact on the family such as parental stress, depression and family functioning.
The evidence suggests that siblings of children with an ABI can experience difficulties such as emotional and behavioural problems, obsessive compulsive thinking and a lower self esteem. Part of these difficulties may be due to the change in the sibling relationship and therefore it is important to explore this further.
There has been a limited amount of research asking children about their own experiences and younger children particularly have been neglected. Therefore, this study aims to ask children about their perspectives on their relationship with their sibling through approximately 30-45 minute interviews with 6-12 siblings aged 5-11 years.
The children will be recruited through Alder Hey NHS Trust and The Child Brain Injury Trust.
The researcher will then collate all the experiences of these siblings and analyse them using Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis (IPA) because this method focuses on lived experiences of important life events. Themes will be developed from the data and a summary will be sent to families if requested.
REC name
North West - Preston Research Ethics Committee
REC reference
14/NW/1418
Date of REC Opinion
17 Nov 2014
REC opinion
Favourable Opinion