SIBLING ADAPTATION TO CHILDHOOD-CANCER COLLABORATIVE STUDY - CROSS-CULTURAL ASPECTS

Cross-cultural aspects of siblings' adaptation to childhood cancer wer e examined in two studies as part of a cooperative multi-institutional investigation in Israel and the United States. Study 1 compared the b ehavioral adaptation of Israeli siblings of patients with childhood ca ncer with matched clinically referred and normal Israeli children. Stu dy 2 compared the behavioral adaptation of case-matched samples of Isr aeli and American siblings and assessed the contribution of family rel ations and parental coping to the siblings' behavioral adjustment. Isr aeli patients' siblings and normal samples scored significantly lower on the Child Behavior Checklist (CBCL) than the clinically referred sa mple did, indicating fewer behavior problems, with no differences betw een the sibling and normal samples. The CBCL scores of the Israeli and American samples did not differ significantly on the Externalizing an d Internalizing subscales and the Total Behavior Problem score. Signif icant correlations were found in both the Israeli and American samples between the parental coping and family relations variables and the CB CL summary scores,: indicating that greater internal family support an d emotional expressiveness and lower conflict were associated with les s behavior disturbance in the sibling. The authors consider cross-cult ural and methodologic issues when interpreting similarities and differ ences among Israeli and American siblings of pediatric cancer patients .