Accidental injuries of children and the behavioral effects on siblings

This nonexperimental, descriptive study was done to gather data on the effect that a child who has sustained an accidental injury and is hospitalized has on siblings. The sample of 20 siblings was selected from families of 10 children who sustained an accidental injury and were hospitalized at a selected teaching hospital. The Revised Behavior Problem Checklist (RBPC) (Quay & Peterson, 1987) and a Demographic Data Record were used to collect data while the injured child was hospitalized and 4 weeks after discharge. The RBPC consists of 89 items scored on a scale of 0 to 2. Scores were analyzed using the Wilcoxin matched-­pairs test; change in scores was not significant. The Wilcoxin matched-pairs test was also calculated for school grades, number of complaints of illness, and number of physician visits; results were not significant. However, Pearson product-moment correlation coefficients were significant at the .05 level for RBPC scores and age, number of siblings, and number of complaints of illness.