This Article Full Text (PDF) References Alert me when this article is cited Alert me if a correction is posted Services Email this article to a friend Similar articles in this journal Alert me to new issues of the journal Add to Saved Citations Download to citation manager Request Permissions Request Reprints Add to My Marked Citations Citing Articles Citing Articles via Google Scholar Citing Articles via Scopus Google Scholar Articles by Gardner, E. Search for Related Content PubMed Articles by Gardner, E. Social Bookmarking                         What's this?

Siblings of Chronically Ill Children: Towards an Understanding of Process

Chelsea and Westminster Hospital, London, UK

Recently researchers have become interested in the well child's coping responses to the stressor of living with an ill sibling. However, few studies to date have shed sufficient light on what children are actually thinking and feeling in an effort to cope. This study used grounded theory to explore children's appraisals of stressful events and to propose a model of which factors exacerbate or decrease the stressful experience. Categories of appraisals were generated relating to themselves and others. Key factors identified as exacerbating the impact of stressors included: poor parental responses; catastrophic thinking; perception of having little control; perception that negative events will persist over time; and repeated, ineffective coping strategies. The impact of stressors was decreased by: children perceiving themselves as able to cope and to have some control, good parental responses, and achieving a balance between thinking of their own needs and thinking of others. A framework to incorporate these findings is proposed.

Key Words: appraisals • chronic illness • siblings • stress

Clinical Child Psychology and Psychiatry, Vol. 3, No. 2, 213-227 (1998)
DOI: 10.1177/1359104598032006


CiteULike    Complore    Connotea    Del.icio.us    Digg    Reddit    Technorati    Twitter    What's this?