Children's Illness Severity and Parent's Adaptation

Abstract

This paper examines how parents cope with the stress of physical illnesses in their children. Three groups of parents, comprising 270 mothers and 106 fathers, whose children were either seriously ill, ill or from the control group, participated in this study. The variables examined included the parents' rating of the stress experienced, their satisfaction with coping, the family environment and the parents' adaptation. Implications of the findings for intervention are discussed.