The Relationship between Hassles of Adolescent Living with a Sibling with a Developmental Disability and Adolescent Violence to Parents in South Korea: A Multi-Group Analysis between Higher and Lower Social Support Groups

Background: In South Korea in 2021, it is estimated that there are 43,605 siblings with a development disability (here in after SDD) and is expected to be at least the same number of adolescents with a sibling with a developmental disability (here in after ASDD). Many researches have focused on an SDD oneself and/or a mother who is a main care-giver till now but not many studies on ASDD who experiences daily hassles. The fact that SDD needs special helps creates ASDD to have excessive responsibilities, worry in terms of the future of SDD, and endure parents’ inattention and social discrimination. Such surroundings make ASDD feel psychosocial and emotional difficulties, which would lead to externalizing acts such as aggression and adolescent-violence-to-parents.

Objective: The aims of this article are threefold; first, to examine the current circumstances of hassles of ASDD and adolescent-violence-to-parents; second, to investigate aggression of ASDD as a mediator; third, to compare mediation pathway between lower and higher social support groups.

Participants and Setting: Data collection was conducted by a convenience sampling during November 2018 to February 2019. Total participants were 303 ASDDs (female, 52.1%; male, 47.2%). Regarding ASDD, over 17 years were 41.3% and 41.6% responded their academic achievement as high. For SDD, males were 61.7%, over 16 years were 41.2%, and 59.1% were attending special schools. Most of ASDD (73.3%) answered their socioeconomic status as middle.

Methods: To analyze the mediation pathway, bootstrapping is conducted using SPSS Macro 25.0 program. Multi-group analysis is used to verify the moderating effect. One group is a higher social support group and the other is a lower. If pathway of lower group is maintained but higher group is broken, it means that higher social support attenuates negative mediated-pathway.

Results: A comparison of two pathways is conducted by the level of social supports. Whole sample is divided into two groups by mean value (m=2.5108) of social supports. In a lower group (n=140), direct effect is not sig. (Effect = .0111, 95% CI = -.0044 to .0266) but indirect effect is maintained (Effect = .0096, 95% CI = .0005 to .0335). However, in a higher group (n=118), both direct effect (Effect = .0106, 95% CI = -.0162 to = .0373) and indirect effect (Effect = .0126, 95% CI = -.0013 to .0301) are broken. It is concluded that higher social supports attenuate the negative cycle.

Conclusions: It is found that hassles of ASDD are high and externalizing psychosocial symptom such as aggression and violence are increased by hassles. To relieve difficulties, several helps are needed. First, practician and researcher are asked to study more details of hassles to decrease effectively. To know is the first step to help others. Second, ASDD is recommended to talk together counselor specializing in family therapy. Third, teacher and social worker are to be supplemented and trained to promote social supports. Finally, government is asked to find the way to help in terms of policy and funding.

Limitations: It is small data that generalizability is difficult.