Evaluation of Psychosocial Characteristics of Typically Developing Siblings of Children with Autism Spectrum Disorders Through Projective Tests

The study aimed to compare the psychosocial characterictics of typically developing siblings of children with ASD with children who do not have any siblings with special needs. This qualitative research study utilized phenomenology approach. The study included 180 children, half of them had a sibling with ASD and the remaining half had typically-developing siblings. Children’s Apperception Test (CAT) and Thematic Apperception Test (TAT) were administered individually to all the participants. The data were obtained by recording the responses of the participants to the projective test cards. The content analysis of the data revealed the themes including depression, anxiety-persistent anxiety-castration, somatization, impulsivity, aggression, attention problems, language impairment, and sibling jealousy. The frequency of the answers of both groups related to themes was also compared. The results showed that the siblings of children with ASD were under psychosocial developmental risk, and tended to show more internalizing and externalizing problems. The findings were discussed with those of previous studies.