Resiliency in the Siblings of Children and Adolescents with Special Needs

Having siblings with special needs has various positive and negative influences on their normal siblings. Regardless of the positive and negative effects of having a sibling with special needs, the question is why some of the siblings of children and adolescents with special needs are successful and have an excellent performance, while the others are unsuccessful, have a poor performance, and face different problems. Researchers have shown that successful siblings have shown greater resilience. Resilience refers to individual’s capacity to withstand stress and catastrophe and properly adapt and overcome difficult life problems. Self-efficacy, positive future orientation, controlling of emotions and negative behaviors, interpersonal skills, optimism, internal locus of control, purposefulness, adequate knowledge on disability, feelings management, coping skills, the ability of establishing positive social relationships, caring responsibilities, and problem-solving skills are among the most important factors affecting resilience in the siblings of children and adolescents with special needs. It is essential for the siblings of children and adolescents with special needs to participate in resilience training program and gain necessary skills in order to enhance their resilience. In this paper, after presenting a short introduction on having a sibling with special needs, we will define resilience then, we will discuss the main factors affecting the resilience of the siblings of children and adolescents with special needs.