"My mom chose my brother over me": The influence of the parent-child bond on coping with a sibling's cancer.
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UNLABELLED: Childhood cancer has a profound impact within families, affecting all members, including siblings. They may experience psycho-emotional difficulties due to changes in family dynamics resulting from the prioritization of care for the sick sibling, which can compromise the parent-child bond. OBJECTIVE: To understand how the parent-child bond influences the psycho-emotional coping of healthy adolescents and young adults in response to a sibling's cancer diagnosis. METHODS: A descriptive qualitative design based on Krippendorff's content analysis. Narratives from 12 siblings and 6 accounts from parents were used, drawn from secondary data of a research project that sought to develop a comprehensive model of this group. The narratives were analyzed separately by each researcher using the ATLAS.ti software, after which the findings were triangulated to identify the categories. RESULTS: The parent-child bond is compromised by physical separation and emotional distancing between them, affecting the way siblings cope with cancer. Certain relational dynamics emerge that influence the psycho-emotional coping of healthy siblings, such as communication dynamics, the concealment of emotions, the reversal of caregiving roles, parental prioritization, and interactions. CONCLUSION: Promoting a supportive parent-child bond characterized by affection and communication strengthens resilience in healthy siblings of children with cancer, helping them adapt and reducing emotional vulnerability. Grounded in Neuman's theory, these siblings are viewed as open systems capable of restoring stability when key stressors are addressed, making structured nursing interventions-such as psychoeducational programs and formal support-essential to protecting their well-being.