A new study has found that a major­ity of chil­dren expe­ri­ence pos­i­tive and neg­a­tive per­sonal and rela­tion­ship changes one year after their sib­ling has died from can­cer. The study is the first to exam­ine changes in chil­dren after the death of a brother or sis­ter from can­cer from three dif­fer­ent perspectives—mothers, fathers, and siblings—up to a year after the sib­ling has died.

The researchers inter­viewed 40 fam­i­lies as part of a mul­ti­site, lon­gi­tu­di­nal study fol­low­ing the death of a child from can­cer. Dur­ing the study, sib­lings were asked to describe how they have changed since their brother or sister’s death. Par­ents were also asked how the sib­ling has changed. The results showed that 69% of par­tic­i­pants reported per­sonal changes in siblings.

Greater matu­rity was the most com­mon per­sonal change reported by sib­lings. More than twice as many sib­lings reported greater com­pas­sion and changes in life pri­or­i­ties than their par­ents reported for them. Par­ents reported neg­a­tive changes in siblings—such as being sad, angry, with­drawn, or fear­ful of expe­ri­enc­ing another death—more often than the sib­lings did them­selves. Sib­lings also reported changes in peer rela­tion­ships more fre­quently than par­ents did.

The researchers con­cluded that health­care providers may want to encour­age fam­i­lies to dis­cuss pos­si­ble changes that sib­lings can expe­ri­ence after the death of a sibling.

• Fos­ter, T.L., Gilmer, M.J., Van­natta, K., Bar­rera, M., Davies, B., Diet­rich, M.S., . . . Ger­hardt, C.A. (2011). Changes in sib­lings after the death of a child from can­cer. Can­cer Nurs­ing. [Epub ahead of print]