Quality of sibling relationship and substance misuse: A comparative study
Author(s) / Creator(s)
Tsamparli, Anastasia
Frrokaj, Elvisa
Abstract / Description
The aim of the current study is to examine the quality of sibling relationship in families with a sibling with substance misuse (SSU) and compare the relationship to families with a sibling with no use (SNU). Thirty-six (36) families participated in the study (17 with SSU and 19 with SNU; N = 144). Semi-structured interviews were conducted with 40 siblings (20 SNU and 20 SSU; 18-31 years old) in order to qualitatively investigate the characteristics of the sibling relationship. The siblings were not identified with any psychopathology, according to SCL-90R. Moreover, we considered the family cohesion and adaptability, as identified by the FACES III (administered to the whole sample) and the family constellation (including number of children, birth order, gender, family size, family structure, years of substance misuse and socioeconomic level). The results of the thematic analysis seem to support Furman and Buhrmester’s (1985) framework, in the context of SNU families. Nevertheless, when considering families with SSU the framework is enriched with a new axis: Loss/mourning. The substance misuse seems to provoke an overturn of the representation of the sibling relationship: the behavioral changes (i.e. disengagement) of the sibling with drug use are experienced as a loss by the sibling non user, thus triggering the psychological process of ‘mourning’. Moreover, in these families, the sibling with no drug use seem to experience differential parenting, they feel neglected, angry and they take up a parental role towards the SSU, whom they experience as “sensitive” and “vulnerable”.
Keyword(s)
sibling relationship substance use family functioningPersistent Identifier
Date of first publication
2016-03-23
Journal title
The European Journal of Counselling Psychology
Volume
4
Issue
1
Page numbers
123–147
Publisher
PsychOpen GOLD
Publication status
publishedVersion
Review status
peerReviewed
Is version of
Citation
Tsamparli, A., & Frrokaj, E. (2016). Quality of sibling relationship and substance misuse: A comparative study. The European Journal of Counselling Psychology, 4(1), 123–147. https://doi.org/10.5964/ejcop.v4i1.78
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Author(s) / Creator(s)Tsamparli, Anastasia
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Author(s) / Creator(s)Frrokaj, Elvisa
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PsychArchives acquisition timestamp2018-11-29T07:49:02Z
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Made available on2018-11-29T07:49:02Z
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Date of first publication2016-03-23
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Abstract / DescriptionThe aim of the current study is to examine the quality of sibling relationship in families with a sibling with substance misuse (SSU) and compare the relationship to families with a sibling with no use (SNU). Thirty-six (36) families participated in the study (17 with SSU and 19 with SNU; N = 144). Semi-structured interviews were conducted with 40 siblings (20 SNU and 20 SSU; 18-31 years old) in order to qualitatively investigate the characteristics of the sibling relationship. The siblings were not identified with any psychopathology, according to SCL-90R. Moreover, we considered the family cohesion and adaptability, as identified by the FACES III (administered to the whole sample) and the family constellation (including number of children, birth order, gender, family size, family structure, years of substance misuse and socioeconomic level). The results of the thematic analysis seem to support Furman and Buhrmester’s (1985) framework, in the context of SNU families. Nevertheless, when considering families with SSU the framework is enriched with a new axis: Loss/mourning. The substance misuse seems to provoke an overturn of the representation of the sibling relationship: the behavioral changes (i.e. disengagement) of the sibling with drug use are experienced as a loss by the sibling non user, thus triggering the psychological process of ‘mourning’. Moreover, in these families, the sibling with no drug use seem to experience differential parenting, they feel neglected, angry and they take up a parental role towards the SSU, whom they experience as “sensitive” and “vulnerable”.en_US
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Publication statuspublishedVersion
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Review statuspeerReviewed
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CitationTsamparli, A., & Frrokaj, E. (2016). Quality of sibling relationship and substance misuse: A comparative study. The European Journal of Counselling Psychology, 4(1), 123–147. https://doi.org/10.5964/ejcop.v4i1.78en_US
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ISSN2195-7614
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Persistent Identifierhttps://hdl.handle.net/20.500.12034/1656
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Persistent Identifierhttps://doi.org/10.23668/psycharchives.2022
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Language of contenteng
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PublisherPsychOpen GOLD
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Is version ofhttps://doi.org/10.5964/ejcop.v4i1.78
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Keyword(s)sibling relationshipen_US
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Keyword(s)substance useen_US
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Keyword(s)family functioningen_US
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Dewey Decimal Classification number(s)150
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TitleQuality of sibling relationship and substance misuse: A comparative studyen_US
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DRO typearticle
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Issue1
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Journal titleThe European Journal of Counselling Psychology
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Page numbers123–147
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Volume4
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Visible tag(s)Version of Record