Annalisa Levante
Serena Petrocchi
Flavia Lecciso- 1Department of Human and Social Sciences, University of Salento, Lecce, Italy
- 2Lab of Applied Psychology, Department of Human and Social Sciences, University of Salento, Lecce, Italy
- 3Faculty of Biomedical Sciences, Institute of Family Medicine, Università della Svizzera Italiana, Lugano, Switzerland
Editorial on the Research Topic
Siblinghood through any disability: the state of the art and future directions
This Editorial aims to summarize the key themes addressed by the articles published in the Research Topic entitled “Siblinghood through any disability: the state of the art and future directions,” which explores the experiences of siblings of individuals with disabilities. Over the past few years, scholars have devoted increasing attention to the roles served and the experiences lived by siblings of children with disabilities. Recent systematic reviews and empirical studies (e.g., Cervellione et al., 2025; Lecciso et al., 2025; Levante et al., 2024; Lee and Shikarpurya, 2025; Levante et al., 2023; Alon, 2025) have highlighted that the main topics explored include sibling relationships, the roles taken on in supporting their brother or sister with a disability, and the siblings' social and personal functioning. The articles included in this Research Topic address many of the themes previously identified in the literature while also introducing new perspectives that contribute to shaping future research directions.
This Research Topic includes a total of seven contributions from five countries: Italy (n = 2), Norway (n = 2), Poland (n = 1), Israel (n = 1), and the United Kingdom (n = 1). Altogether, the articles involved 38 authors and 14 expert reviewers in the fields of family systems dynamics and siblinghood. Of the included papers, four adopted a quantitative design, two employed a qualitative approach, and one utilized a mixed-methods design. The quantitative studies primarily focused on family dynamics involving siblings and parents within the context of various disabilities. Both risk and protective factors influencing sibling adjustment and family interaction have been identified. For instance, Łada-Maśko et al. delineated two distinct family interaction profiles: strained vs. resilient. The former are characterized by low cohesion and communication, hyper-protection, and inconsistent parenting, while resilient families exhibit positive interaction dimensions. Although the authors found that the strained profile was the most prevalent, all families fell into both profiles regardless of the presence or absence of disability. In other words, dysfunctional family interactions are not exclusive to families with a child with disability.
Lecciso et al. tested the protective role of parental resolution of the child's diagnosis in facilitating siblings' acceptance and fostering closer and less conflictual sibling relationships. Specifically, parental resolution is a predictor of sibling resolution of the diagnosis, which, in turn, serves as a protective factor for a high-quality sibling relationship. Rum et al. highlighted the beneficial impact of having older typically developing siblings on the social functioning of autistic children, emphasizing the role of siblings as valuable resources for social development, regardless of the older sibling's neurodiversity status. Finally, the longitudinal study by Zahl et al. explored bidirectional influences between parental and sibling mental health and adjustment over time. The findings revealed no significant cross-domain longitudinal associations, neither between sibling mental health and adjustment nor between parental and sibling outcomes. Across all models, only self-feedback effects within each domain reached significance. No associations were found between changes in maternal and sibling mental health; however, a small but significant correlation emerged between changes in maternal mental health and sibling adjustment.
Complementing these results, two qualitative studies provided in-depth insights into siblings' knowledge, perceptions, and emotional experiences related to living with a brother/sister with a disability. Fjermestad and Lervik revealed significant gaps in siblings' understanding of autism, particularly among young children, and highlighted the potential for targeted educational interventions in promoting awareness and reducing misconceptions. Foley et al. investigated the lived experiences of typically developing twins and their mothers in the context of neurodivergence, identifying relational challenges, perceived difficulties, and unmet support needs. The findings suggested that post-diagnostic support targeting communication strategies and emotional guidance could substantially enhance sibling relationships and overall family dynamics.
The mixed-methods study by Battistin et al. investigated the quality of the sibling relationship and the role of social play among visually impaired and sighted siblings. By combining quantitative and qualitative methodologies, the authors demonstrated that sibling relationships, where one sibling has a diagnosis, can be harmonious and not necessarily marked by difficulty. Social play emerged as a key protective factor, fostering strong sibling bonds and supporting their mental health.
Taken altogether, the contributions offer a multidimensional perspective on the complex influences shaping siblings' adjustment and family dynamics in the context of disability. They underscore the importance of integrating both empirical data and personal narratives to fully capture the sibling experience. Importantly, the findings of the research highlighted the need for systemic and family-centered interventions that consider not only the emotional and social needs of parents (Lecciso et al., 2016, 2013; Sher-Censor and Shahar-Lahav, 2022) and individuals with disabilities (De Carlo et al., 2024; Martis et al., 2024) but also those of siblings.
Future directions for research include longitudinal studies that investigate sibling and family adjustment across different developmental stages to better understand the nature of these relationships. Moreover, there is a need to explore diverse disability diagnoses and cultural contexts to enhance the generalizability of results. Research should also examine the effectiveness of targeted interventions designed to support siblings' coping and resilience. Finally, incorporating paternal perspectives and expanding the methodology to include mixed-method approaches are key steps toward a more holistic understanding of family dynamics, enabling more targeted and meaningful support for families living with disability.
Author contributions
AL: Writing – original draft, Writing – review & editing. SP: Writing – review & editing. FL: Writing – review & editing.
Conflict of interest
The authors declare that the research was conducted in the absence of any commercial or financial relationships that could be construed as a potential conflict of interest.
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References
Alon, R. (2025). Examining the acceptance of siblings with Down syndrome through a positive psychological lens. Res. Pract. Pers. Severe Disabil. doi: 10.1177/15407969251350121
Cervellione, B., Iacolino, C., Bottari, A., Vona, C., Leuzzi, M., Presti, G., et al. (2025). Functioning of neurotypical siblings of individuals with autism spectrum disorder: a systematic review. Psychiatry Int. 6:52. doi: 10.3390/psychiatryint6020052
De Carlo, E., Martis, C., Lecciso, F., Levante, A., Signore, F., Ingusci, E., et al. (2024). Acceptance of disability as a protective factor for emotional exhaustion: an empirical study on employed and unemployed persons with disabilities. Psicol. Soc. 18, 235–260. doi: 10.1482/114459
Lecciso, F., Martis, C., Del Prete, C. M., Martino, P., Primiceri, P., Levante, A., et al. (2025). Determinants of sibling relationships in the context of mental disorders. PLoS ONE 20:e0322359. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0322359
Lecciso, F., Petrocchi, S., and Marchetti, A. (2013). Hearing mothers and oral deaf children: an atypical relational context for theory of mind. Eur. J. Psychol. Educ. 28, 903–922. doi: 10.1007/s10212-012-0146-1
Lecciso, F., Petrocchi, S., Savazzi, F., Marchetti, A., and Nobile, M. (2016). The association between maternal resolution of the diagnosis of autism, maternal mental representations of the relationship with the child, and children's attachment. Life Span Dis. 16, 21–38.
Lee, C. E., and Shikarpurya, S. (2025). Exploring the strengths and resilience of siblings of people with intellectual and developmental disabilities. J. Appl. Res. Intellect. Disabil. 38:e13324. doi: 10.1111/jar.13324
Levante, A., Martis, C., Del Prete, C. M., Martino, P., Pascali, F., Primiceri, P., et al. (2023). Parentification, distress, and relationship with parents as factors shaping the relationship between adult siblings and their brother/sister with disabilities. Front Psychiatry 13:1079608. doi: 10.3389/fpsyt.2022.1079608
Levante, A., Martis, C., Del Prete, C. M., Martino, P., Primiceri, P., Lecciso, F., et al. (2024). Siblings of persons with disabilities: a systematic integrative review of the empirical literature. Clin. Child. Fam. Psychol. Rev. 28, 209–253. doi: 10.1007/s10567-024-00502-6
Martis, C., Levante, A., De Carlo, E., Ingusci, E., Signore, F., Lecciso, F., et al. (2024). The power of acceptance of their disability for improving flourishing: preliminary insights from persons with physical acquired disabilities. Disabilities 4, 815–829. doi: 10.3390/disabilities4040050
Keywords: sibling, siblinghood, resolution of the diagnosis, sibling relationships, family interaction, family dynamics, interpersonal adjustment, psychological wellbeing
Citation: Levante A, Petrocchi S and Lecciso F (2025) Editorial: Siblinghood through any disability: the state of the art and future directions. Front. Psychol. 16:1670389. doi: 10.3389/fpsyg.2025.1670389
Received: 21 July 2025; Accepted: 06 August 2025;
Published: 21 August 2025.
Edited and reviewed by: Pamela Bryden, Wilfrid Laurier University, Canada
Copyright © 2025 Levante, Petrocchi and Lecciso. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) and the copyright owner(s) are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
*Correspondence: Annalisa Levante, YW5uYWxpc2EubGV2YW50ZUB1bmlzYWxlbnRvLml0