The validity of a measure of adjustment in siblings of children with developmental and physical disabilities: a brief report.

Background

Few questionnaires are tailored for siblings of children with disabilities. The Negative Adjustment Scale (NAS) was developed to measure siblings' adjustment, but has not yet been validated.

Objective

To investigate the factor structure and convergent validity of the NAS.Method: We examined the validity of the NAS in terms of factor structure and convergent validity against a general mental health measure. The sample comprised 107 siblings (M age = 11.5 years, SD = 2.1, 53.8% boys) of children with disabilities.

Results

We confirmed a one-factor structure for the NAS. Convergent validity was demonstrated through significant correlations (r=.29-.44) with sibling externalizing and internalizing mental health difficulties.

Conclusion

The NAS holds promise as a measure tailored for the assessment of sibling's adjustment.