Indian J. Prev. Soc. Med. Vol. 44 No.1-2, 2013

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1 ISSN Indian J. Prev. Soc. Med. Vol. 44 No.1-2, 2013 PERSONALITY ASSESSMENT AMONG SCHOOL GOING SIBLINGS OF NORMAL AND DISABLED CHILDREN ACROSS GENDER Shiva Singh 1, UV Kiran 2 ABSTRACT Personality of a child is influenced by many factors and one among which is vital is the home environment and sibling relationship. The present study was undertaken with an aim to assess the impact of presence of a disabled sibling on the personality of school going children across gender. The sample of the study comprise of 60 siblings of normal children and 49 siblings of disabled children who were selected purposively from various schools of Lucknow city in U.P. They were tested individually for personality development with the help of CPQ personality scale of Kapoor S.D (1991). The siblings of the normal children were found to be reserved, independent, assertive, self assured and secure, where as the siblings of the disabled children were found to be detached, obedient, aggressive, stubbrorn, apprehensive and dependent. The findings of the study can be used to frame intervention programmes to improve the personality of siblings of disabled children. Keywords: CPQ personality scale, siblings, personality, disabled children. INTRODUCTION Disabled children often grow-up with brother and sister around them. Although it may not be immediately obvious, development is often influenced by the home environment. Their relationship with the disabled child may be a mixture of love, guilt and resentment. Disabled siblings often are the youngest, as the parent decide that another child would stretch them just too far and social interactions between siblings have a greater importance. 1 Disabled children require extra attention from parents and this can cause jealousy in siblings of any age. It can also affect character for good or bad. These emotions fluctuate and some are more prevalent at certain ages than others, for example one may cringe with embarrassment if an autistic sibling has a full blown meltdown in public. A younger child may resent the cancellation of a much longed- for outing to the circus or a movie. These types of events are often put on hold in the families with disabled children, as the parent may be exhausted and unaware of the pain the cancellation causes other children. Each child is unique and therefore his\her interaction with their siblings varies from individual to individual as well. The roles, brother and sister play towards disabled children are special. Siblings are first playmates but often become protectors and friends to one another. Sibling s relationship can create a number of feelings. For the most part, siblings react with some emotions towards disabled sibling with feelings varying from love and empathy to guilt and anger. These reactions will depend on many factors such as age differences, family resources, stress producing situations etc. Sibling relationship has an impact on adjustment, which influence the quality of the relationship. 1. M.Sc. Student, 2. Assistant Professor, Dept. of Human Development & Family Studies, School for Home Sciences, Babasaheb Bhimrao Ambedkar University, Lucknow Corresponding Author: Dr. U. V. Kiran, Assistant Professor, DHDFS, School for Home Sciences, Babasaheb Bhimrao Ambedkar University, Vidya Vihar, Raebareilly Road, Lucknow Indexed in : Index Medicus (IMSEAR), INSDOC, NCI Current Content, Database of Alcohol & Drug Abuse, National Database in TB & Allied Diseases, IndMED, Entered in WHO CD ROM for South East Asia.

2 Sibling relationship characterized by moderate level of conflict combined with moderate level of warmth may provide a healthy balance of interaction prompting effectively the development of regulation with disabled children. Seeing to the importance of the sibling s relationship and its influence on personality of children, the present study was taken up to study the differences in personality among school going siblings of normal and disabled children across gender. MATERIAL AND METHODS Lucknow city was purposively selected to conduct the study as it is convenient for the researcher to carry out the study. For the present study, siblings of normal and disabled children belonging to various socio-economic and educational backgrounds were selected for the study. For the measurement of personality differences among siblings of normal and disabled children across gender, Child Personality Questionnaire (CPQ) developed by Kapoor, S. D.(1991) was used. CPQ measures a set of 14 factorially independent dimensions of personality (Table 1). The data was coded, tabulated and analyzed using percentages and mean. T-test statistic was used to compare the personality of siblings of normal and disabled children. (a) Siblings of Normal Children: Out of the six zones of Lucknow city, three zones (I, III, V) were selected randomly using random sampling technique. From each zone, one area was identified randomly to select the schools using area sampling technique. From each area, schools having 7-12 years of children were identified and out of which, two schools from each area were selected randomly using random sampling technique. From each school, children under the age group of 7-12 years were identified and 5 boys and 5 girls from each school were selected randomly using random sampling technique. Stratified random sampling technique was used to select the siblings of normal children. Table- 1: Factors of Personality as given in Child Personality Questionnaire Low Score Description Factor High Score Description Reserved, detached, critical, cool, (Shizothymia) A Outgoing, warm-hearted, easy going participating (Cyclothymia) Less intelligent, concrete-thinking (lower scholastic mental capacity) Affected by feeling, emotionally less stable, easily upset, changeable (lower ego strength) Phlegmatic, deliberate, inactive, stodgy (Phlegmatic temperament) B C D More intelligent, abstract-thinking, bright (higher scholastic mental capacity) Emotionally stable, faces reality, clam (higher ego strength) Excitable, impatient, demanding, overactive (Excitability) Obedient, mild, conforming (Submissiveness) E Assertive, independable, aggressive, stubborn (dominance) Sober, prudent, serious, taciturn, (Desurgency) F Happy-go-lucky, headless gay, enthusiastic Disregards rules, undependable, by-passes, olirgation (weaker super ego strength) G Conscientious, preserving, staid, rule bound, (stranger super ego strength) Shy, restrained, different, timid (Threctia) H Venturesome, socially bold, inhibited, spontaneous Tough-minded, self- reliant, realistic, no-nonsense (harria) Vigorous, go readily with group, zestful, giving to action zeppia I J Tender-minded, dependent, over-protected, sensitive (premsia) Dousting, obstructive, individualistic, reflective, restrained, unwilling act (coasthenia) Forthright, artless, natural, sentimental N Calculating, wordly, (shrewdness) Self-assured, placed, secure (untroubled adequacy) O Apprehensive, worrying, depressive, (guilt proneness) Care less of social rules, unidity, follows own urges (low integration) Q3 Controlled, socially, compulsive (higher self-concept control) Relaxed, tranquil, unfrustrated (low ergic tension) Q4 Tense, driven, overwrought, fretful (high ergic tension) (b) Siblings of disabled children: The addresses of children were collected from Chetna Institute for children with special needs. The school going siblings of they were identified. The sample constituted the siblings of 25 girls and 24 boys under Indian J. Prev. Soc. Med Vol. 44 No

3 disability totaling to 49 siblings of disabled children of various categories were selected using purposive sampling technique. RESULTS AND DISCUSSION The school going siblings of normal and disabled children across gender were identified and the general profile of the respondents was studied in terms of their gender. Table 2 depicts the distribution of sample (siblings of normal and disabled children) according to their gender. It can be noted that almost equal percentages of boys and girls were taken as the sample. Gender Table 2: Distribution of the respondents according to gender Siblings of Normal children (N =60) Siblings of Disabled children (N=49) Total (N=109) No. % No. % No. % Boys Girls Child Personality Questionnaire was administered to see the effect of disabled siblings across gender on a child s personality. The 14 factors as mentioned in table 1 were assessed and analysed (Table 3). Factor Table-3 : Personality differences among siblings of normal and disabled across gender Siblings of normal children t-value Siblings of disabled children Boys Girls Boys Girls t-value A 5.32± ± ** 3.75± ± NS B 4.27± ± ** 4.66± ± ** C 6.06± ± NS 5.6± ± ** D 4.43± ± ** 4.75± ± * E 2.6± ± ** 6.55± ± NS F 4.37± ± ** 4.12± ± ** G 5.37± ± ** 6.0± ± ** H 6.40± ± * 4.87± ± NS I 8.1± ± NS 7.48± ± ** J 5.52± ± ** 5.91± ± NS N 5.87± ± NS 11.04± ± ** O 6.50± ± NS 0.33± ± * Q3 5.33± ± ** 4.58± ± NS Q4 5.23± ± NS 5.12± ± * **=Highly Significant, *=Significant, NS=Non Significant Highly significant differences were found with regard to factor A (affectothymia (easy-going) vs shizothymia (cool, critical). The mean scores of the siblings of normal boys (5.32) tend towards average scores describing their personality as some times warmhearted (cyclothymia) and sometimes reserved, critical and cool (shizothymia) and mean scores recorded by the siblings of disabled boys (3.75) tend towards low scores i.e. below 5, describing their personality as detached, reserved. The mean scores scored by the siblings of normal girls and disabled girls (3.13 and 3.17) tend towards, low scores i.e. below 5, describing their personality as reserved, detached, critical and cool, depicting no differences in personality across gender. The reserved and detached nature found in boys and girls with disabled siblings may be due to lack of required parents attention towards them and the traits may be the reason due to the inferiority complex developed due to the presence of disabled sibling. Indian J. Prev. Soc. Med Vol. 44 No

4 Mean score Mean Score Shiva Singh et al Fig-2: Personality difference among siblings of disabled children across gender 9 8 Fig-1: Personality difference among silbings of normal children across gender Boys Girls A B C D E F G H I J N O Q3 Personality Parameter Boys Girls A B C D E F G H I J N O Q3 Personality difference Highly significant differences was found with regard to factor B (less-intelligence vs more intelligence). The mean score of the siblings of normal girls (6.5) and disabled girls (7.92) depicted high scores indicating the personality being bright and higher scholastic mental capacity depicting no differences in personality. The mean scores scored by siblings of normal boys (4.27) and disabled boys (4.6) were towards low scores indicating the personality being concrete thinking, lower scholastic mental capacity and depicted no differences in personality between siblings of normal and disabled children No significant differences were found with regard to factor C (higher ego strength Vs lower ego strength). The mean scores of the siblings of normal girls and disabled girls (5.6 and 5.2) were towards average scores indicating the personality being sometimes emotionally stable faces reality and sometimes gets upset easily. The siblings of normal boys have mean scores (6.06) towards high score indicating the personality being calm, higher ego strength and the siblings of disabled boys have mean score (5.6) towards average score indicating the personality being sometimes changeable and sometime calm. Both the siblings of normal boys and siblings of disabled boys (4.43 and 4.75) depicted low scores indicating the personality being deliberate, phlegmatic temperament depicting no differences in personality. The siblings of normal girls and siblings of disabled girls children have mean scores (5.06 and 5.70) depicting average scores indicating the personality being sometimes inactive and sometimes overactive. The data clearly indicates highly significant differences with regard to factor D of siblings of normal girls and boys, and no significant difference in siblings of disabled boys and girls children. Highly significant differences was found with regard to factor E (obedient vs. assertive) indicating the differences in personality of siblings of normal girls and boys. The siblings of normal and disabled girls have mean scores of 7.47 and 7.73 indicating the personality being dominated and independent. The siblings of normal boys have mean scores towards low score indicating the personality being serious and sober and the siblings of disabled boys have mean high scores indicating the personality being aggressive and stubborn. A highly significant difference was found with regard to factor F (happy-go-lucky vs serious). The siblings of normal boys and disabled boys have mean towards low score (4.37 and 4.12) indicating the personality being prudent, sober, desurgency depicting no differences in personality. The siblings of normal girls and disabled girls have mean scores (6.32 and 6.5) depicting high score indicating the personality being enthusiastic. Indian J. Prev. Soc. Med Vol. 44 No

5 Highly significant differences were found with regard to factor G (Rule-Bound, superego strength) vs. (weaker superego strength, undependable). The mean scores of the siblings of normal boys and siblings of disabled boys (5.37 and 6.0) tend towards average scores (i.e, between 5 and 6), describing both their personality as sometimes rule bounded and sometimes disregarding the rules. The mean scores of the siblings of normal girls and disabled girls (3.73 and 3.28) children tend towards low score (i.e. below 5), describing both their personality as undependable. Significant difference was found with regard to factor H (socially bold, spontaneous) vs. (shy, different threctia) average the siblings of normal girls and boys the siblings of boys and girls showed no significant differences in their personality with regard to factor H. The siblings of normal boys (6.4) tend towards high score (i.e., above 5-6) describing their personality inhibited, venture some and siblings of disabled boys mean score (4.87) towards low score (i.e. below 5), describing their personality as timid, shy, restrained. With regard to Factor I (self-reliant, realistic vs. depending overprotected) highly significant differences were found with siblings of normal girls and boys and disabled girls and boys. The mean scores of siblings boys of normal and disabled (8.1 and 7.84) children tend towards high score i.e. above 6, describing both of their personality as sensitive, tender-minded, dependent, over-protected. The mean scores of the girl siblings of normal and disabled children (4.9 and 4.70) children tend towards low scores i.e. below 5, describing both of their personality no-nonsense, tough minded, and self-reliant. Factor J showed no significant differences with regard to siblings of normal boys and girls and siblings of disabled boys and girls. The mean scores of the siblings of normal boys and siblings of disabled boys (5.52 and 5.91) tend towards average scores i.e. between 5 and 6 describing their personality as some times unwilling to act, dousting, reflective and sometimes zestful, giving to action, vigorous and go readily with group. The mean scores of the siblings of normal girls (6.07) showed high score (i.e. up to 6) the mean scores of the siblings of disabled girls (5.8) showed average scores (i.e. between 5 and 6) describing the personality as internally restrained and sometimes of zestful. With respect to factor N (Natural vs. shrewd) the siblings of normal girls and siblings of disabled girls (6.27 and 6.90) depicted high scores indicating the personality being wordly, calculating, penetrating, depicting no differences in personality, and mean scores of siblings of normal boys (5.87) indicated average scores and showed the personality sometimes sentimental, natural and artless. The mean scores of siblings of disabled boys (11.04) indicating the personality being shrewd. In a study on impact of siblings of children with intellectual disability indicated a negative impact on the normal siblings with them being more shrewd. 2 The data clearly indicates no significant relationship between personality of siblings of normal girls and boys with regard to factor N where as highly significant differences were found between personality of siblings of disabled girls and boys and no significant differences were found between siblings of normal girls and siblings of disabled girls (6.93and 6.16) indicating the personality being apprehensive, guilt prone and the siblings of disabled boys (0.33) indicating the personality being secure, sentimental depicting differences in personality. depicted low score Highly significant differences were found with regard to Factor Q3 (High self-concept control vs Low integration) the mean scores of the siblings of normal boys (5.33) were towards the average score indicating the personality being sometimes socially precise, compulsive and sometimes otherwise. The mean scores of siblings of disabled boys showed low scores indicating the personality being low-integrated and casual depicting differences in personality. The siblings of normal girls (3.47) tend towards low scores indicating the personality being unity, careless of social rules and the siblings of disabled girls children have mean scores toward average indicating the personality being sometimes of self discipline and sometimes low integration, depicting differences in personality. Indian J. Prev. Soc. Med Vol. 44 No

6 With respect to factor Q4 (High ergic tension vs. Low ergic tension) both the siblings of normal boys and siblings of disabled boys (5.23 and 5.12) depict average scores indicating the personality being sometimes tense, overwrought, driven and sometimes of torpid and tranquil and relaxed depicting no differences in personality. The siblings of normal girls mean scores (5.8) tend towards average score. The siblings of disabled girls have mean scores (6.16) depicted high scores indicating the personality being fretful and tense depicting no differences in personality. In a study conducted on adjustment characteristics of healthy siblings of children with autism and found that siblings have markedly lower levels of participation in extra-curricular activities and parents and siblings defined the attributes helpfulness/responsibility in an almost dichotomous manner and this inturn will have a negative impact on their personality with girls acting compulsive, sentimental and rather dutiful and boys more careless and introvert. (3) CONCLUSION The study indicates differences in personality of siblings of normal and disabled children among boys and girls. Among siblings of normal children, highly significant differences was found with regard to factor A (cool vs. warm-hearted), B (less intelligent vs. More intelligent), D (inactive vs. overactive), E (Obedient, mild, conforming, Submissiveness), F (Sober, prudent, serious, taciturn, Desurgency), G (weaker super ego strength vs. stronger super ego strength), J (Vigorous, go readily with group, zestful, giving to action), Q3 (Careless of social rules, uninhibited, follows own urges (low integration) vs. Controlled, socially, compulsive (higher self-concept control), describing the personality of boys as warm hearted, less intelligent, inactive, mild, serious, zestful in comparison to girls. In case of siblings of disabled children, the girl siblings were found to be warmhearted participating, intelligent, emotionally stable, and obedient apprehensive and controlled than compared to boy siblings. Girl siblings were found to be more considerate and intelligent and adjusting in comparison to their counterparts in both the groups i.e. siblings of normal and disabled children. The findings of the study can also be used to frame intervention programmes to improve the personality of siblings of disabled children to overcome their personality deficiencies and understand their disabled siblings. The parents of these children also has to play a major role in making the children understand, adjust and cooperate. REFERENCES 1. Powell T. and Gallaher M. Brother and sisters, special part of exceptional families, 1993, 2 nd Ed Cameron L., Neeca JB. and Bruce L. Importance of siblings of children with intellectual disability: the role of child behavior problems, J. Intellectual Dev. Disabilities, 2009, 33(1): Barak LY. Adjustment characteristics of healthy siblings of children with autism, Journal of Family Studies, 2010, 16(2): Indian J. Prev. Soc. Med Vol. 44 No