Parents and siblings of children with disabilities benefit from participation in a group intervention to improve parent-sibling communication: Findings from a pilot implementation of SIBS in Denmark

This study investigates whether a pilot implementation of SIBS, a joint intervention for siblings and parents of children with disabilities, produces positive outcomes in parent–sibling communication, sibling adjustment to the disability, and siblings’ emotional and behavioral difficulties. Although previous studies have shown that SIBS is associated with positive sibling outcomes in a Norwegian context, little is known about the extent to which similar results can be achieved in other national contexts. This study draws on survey data from parents who participated in the pilot implementation of SIBS in Denmark during 2022–2023 (n = 148). Parents were invited to complete surveys during a three-week period prior to participation (baseline) as well as three and six months after participation. Growth curve model results suggest small but significant improvements in parent–sibling communication quality. Analyses of heterogeneous results indicate that boys and girls benefited equally from the program, and baseline levels of communication challenges did not influence sibling development. However, siblings with participating fathers had, on average, lower baseline scores but showed greater improvement after SIBS than siblings with participating mothers. Our evaluation of SIBS in Denmark provides support for the intervention’s benefits for parents and siblings of children with disabilities and highlights its potential for successful implementation beyond the Norwegian context.