Abstract

ANTAO, Joana Matias; PORTUGAL, Maria Gabriela Correia de Castro  and  SILVA, Carlos Fernandes da. The adjustment of children with chronic illness . Psicol. rev. (Belo Horizonte) [online]. 2019, vol.25, n.1, pp. 60-77. ISSN 1677-1168.  http://dx.doi.org/10.5752/P.1678-9563.2019v25n1p60-77.

This study focus on the impact of chronic disease over the children’s psychological adjustment, based on the different types of diseases, their characteristics and parents’ perception. The sample is composed of 176 children, aged between 3 and 10 years, distributed in four groups: children with asthma, cancer, uro-nephrological pathology and free from any disease. The data were collected in the waiting rooms of two Portuguese hospitals. The Play Observation Scale (POS), items from the Revised Illness Perception Questionnaire (IPQ-R) and the Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire (SDQ) were the tools applied in the study. The analysis of the results revealed that a linear relationship between the psychological adjustment of children and the presence of a chronic disease does not exist. In addition, the evaluation of the child’s adjustment through the direct observation of ludic activities does not always match the parents’ perspective regarding that adjustment.

Keywords : Chronic disease; Adjustment; Ludic activities; Childhood.

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