The purpose of this study was to determine whether siblings of people with Down syndrome face courtesy stigma, a stigma acquired as a result of an association with a person from a stigmatized group. The central hypothesis was that the majority of people who have a sibling with Down syndrome face courtesy stigma during both adolescence and adulthood. The data supports this hypothesis, showing that 76% of respondents reported courtesy stigma as adolescents and 62% reported courtesy stigma as adults. The levels of courtesy stigma reported were higher in adolescence than adulthood. However, the overall levels of courtesy stigma reported by all respondents were low, and participants reported strongly positive relationships with their siblings with Down syndrome despite experiencing courtesy stigma. Other findings of this study include a positive correlation between aberrant behaviors on the part of the individual with Down syndrome and higher levels of courtesy stigma reported by their siblings and an increase in courtesy stigma when the sibling with Down syndrome also has a comorbid condition, such as autism or a lack of verbal communication skills. Due to a small participant population, this study was unable to establish whether the amount of courtesy stigma experienced by siblings of people with Down syndrome has changed together with our society's attitudes toward people with intellectual disabilities over the past several decades
