Children with chronic illness often experience difficulties at school, yet little is known about the impact of the child's illness on siblings’ school experiences. This study investigated parents’ perceptions of siblings’ school experiences and school support. We conducted semi-structured telephone interviews with 27 parents of children with a chronic illness who had a sibling or siblings (4–25 years), representing the experiences of 31 siblings. Interviews were audio-recorded, transcribed, and analysed using content analysis. Parents believed that 14 of 31 (45.2%) siblings had school difficulties related to the ill child, such as increased anxiety or stress at school, lack of attention from teachers, and changes in behaviour as a result of increased carer responsibilities. Parents identified increased absenteeism due to the ill child's hospitalisation and the impact of parent absences on sibling school functioning. Parents described general and psychological support from the school, and the importance of monitoring the sibling at school and focusing on their unique needs. Overall, our findings suggest the need for a school-based sibling support model that combines psycho-education for siblings and school personnel, individualised sibling psychological support, and shared school and parent responsibility in normalising the sibling experience and providing consistent support.

中文翻译：

---

慢性病儿童兄弟姐妹的学校经历：澳大利亚父母的看法

患有慢性疾病的儿童经常在学校遇到困难，但人们对孩子的疾病对兄弟姐妹的学校经历的影响知之甚少。这项研究调查了父母对兄弟姐妹学校经历和学校支持的看法。我们对 27 位有一个或多个兄弟姐妹（4-25 岁）的慢性病儿童的父母进行了半结构化电话访谈，代表了 31 个兄弟姐妹的经历。访谈被录音、转录，并使用内容分析进行分析。父母认为，31 名兄弟姐妹中有 14 名 (45.2%) 有与生病孩子有关的学习困难，例如在学校的焦虑或压力增加、教师缺乏关注以及由于照顾责任增加而导致的行为改变。父母发现孩子生病导致缺勤率增加 住院和父母缺席对兄弟姐妹学校运作的影响。家长描述了学校提供的一般和心理支持，以及在学校监督兄弟姐妹并关注他们独特需求的重要性。总体而言，我们的研究结果表明，需要一种以学校为基础的兄弟姐妹支持模式，将兄弟姐妹和学校工作人员的心理教育、个性化的兄弟姐妹心理支持以及学校和家长共同承担的责任相结合，使兄弟姐妹的经历正常化并提供一致的支持。