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Brigham Young University
This project focuses on the adaptation of family members (the chronically ill child, parents, and siblings) in families raising a child who has a chronic illness. Quantitative measures will be used to determine how parents' perceptions of stress, appraisals of stress and resources are related to both individual and family functioning, and how these things relate to sibling relationship quality, social skills and coping.
Qualitative measures will be used to determine the quality of support parents of children with chronic illness receive from various individuals, organizations, and services and whether that support has assisted them in raising their child with chronic illness. The children with chronic illness as well as a sibling will share their perceptions of their life experiences and provide examples of daily stressors and coping responses they have used to adapt.
Two groups will be used in this study including, fifty children with chronic illness (along with their mothers, fathers, and one sibling), and fifty children who do not have chronic illness (along with their families). The results of this study will provide important information that can be used by practitioners who work with families raising children with chronic illness.