| Abstract: | The participation of siblings in family therapy was studied from case records in 76 consecutive cases attending a child and adolescent psychiatric outpatient clinic. Siblings took part in family therapy in two thirds of the cases. Of these, 76 per cent attended only one or two sessions. A sub-sample of nine families with children below 13 years of age was interviewed. Seven out of 10 evaluated siblings had psychiatric symptoms of some severity at the onset of therapy compared to two after, and all had fewer symptoms after therapy compared to before (p<0.01). Most families thought it relevant for both parents and siblings to take discussing their children's behaviour in front of them and wanted the opportunity of also talking to the therapist without the children being present. |
