Enas Nagah Mousa Sayed-Ahmed^1,, Rehab Hassan KafL², Somaya Elsayed Abou-Abdou³

Background: The sibling relationship is usually the first, most intense, and longest peer relation that an ‎individual will ever have. Therefore, having a brother/sister with terminal illness poses a risk to the siblings' ‎mental health because of the stress they are under and insufficient support from others. Aim: This study aimed ‎to assess post-traumatic stress symptomatology among siblings of terminally ill children in Ismailia city. Design: ‎descriptive design was adopted for this study. Sample: purposeful sample of eighty one siblings of children with ‎terminal illness. Tool of data collection: the data was gathered through structured interview ‎where the tool was divided into two parts: the first part includes: demographic characteristics of the studied ‎subjects and the second part includes: The Child PTSD Symptom Scale (CPSS). Results: All siblings of children ‎with terminal illness in this study have met criteria of post-traumatic stress symptomatology (PTSS) with nearly ‎half of them had severe symptoms. Conclusion: siblings of children with terminal illness are at substantial risk ‎for PTSS. Recommendation: Create supporting groups for siblings as an ongoing service where siblings of ‎children with terminal illness have an opportunity to meet with others in a similar situation and share their ‎experiences and feelings.

siblings, terminal illness, post-traumatic stress symptoms