Well-being of siblings of people with disabilities

Objectives. The aim of the study was to examine the relation between hope (cognitive and affective aspects), gratitude, forgiveness, and well-being (life satisfaction, positive rumination, negative rumination, and eudaimonic well-being) in siblings of individuals with disabilities. Sample and settings: The participants included 96 siblings (aged 18–40) (M = 27.94, SD = 6.07) from Slovakia with various types of disabilities in their siblings (29 with intellectual disability, 15 with autism, 21 with Down syndrome, and 31 with other types of disabilities). Statistical analyses. Hierarchic regression analyses were performed. Findings. Through hierarchic regression analyses, the findings revealed that forgiveness played a crucial role in the well-being of siblings, emerging as the strongest predictor of life satisfaction (β = .20, p = .035), positive experiencing (β = .25, p = .020), and negative experiencing (β = -.59, p < .001). The affective aspect of hope negatively predicted negative experiencing (β = -.31, p = .04), and positively predicted eudaimonic well-being (β = .41, p = .02). However, gratitude and the cognitive aspect of hope did not significantly predict any well-being outcomes in the studied sample. These findings emphasize the significance of forgiveness in promoting well-being among siblings of individuals with disabilities. Limitation. One of the main limitations of this study could be its cross-sectional design, which limits the ability to determine cause and effect relationships and to observe changes over time.