For Release at 5:30 pm EST, Sunday Oct. 29, 2000
For More Information, ContactKelley Sheahan (404) 633-3777 until Oct. 26(215) 418-2370 Oct. 28 – Nov. 2[email protected]
Parental Attitudes Influence Sick Children’s Social Adjustment
Parents’ perceptions of their children’s health status may be a self-fulfilling prophecy, according to research presented at the American College of Rheumatology Annual Scientific Meeting Oct. 29 – Nov. 2 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.
Researchers studied 69 chronically ill children recruited from pediatric rheumatology and pediatric pulmonary clinics. Parents and children completed several questionnaires designed to measure vulnerability, worry, helplessness, loneliness, self-perception, social anxiety and perception of disease severity. Analysis of the results indicated that parents who perceived their children as more vulnerable had children who were more socially anxious and had greater feelings of helplessness. Parents who worry more had children with lower feelings of self-worth. These findings remained steady even after adjusting for health status as measured by independent physicians’ assessments of the children.
"The results suggest that chronically ill children whose parents perceive them as more vulnerable may be at risk for adjustment problems," said Kelly K. Anthony, a University of North Carolina–Chapel Hill doctoral student working with lead investigator Laura Schanberg, MD ([email protected]), of Duke University in Durham, North Carolina. "Thus, interventions aimed at enhancing the well being of chronically ill children might best target the parent as well as the child."
The American College of Rheumatology is the professional organization for rheumatologists and health professionals who share a dedication to healing, preventing disability and curing arthritis and related rheumatic and musculoskeletal diseases. For more information on the ACR’s annual meeting, see www.rheumatology.org
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