1. Psychosocial Adjustment of Children with a Terminally Ill Parent
- Author
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Daniel Karus, Grace Christ, Rosemary Moynihan, Frances Palamara Mesagno, Karolynn Siegel, and Karel Banks
- Subjects
Male ,medicine.medical_specialty ,Adolescent ,Child Reactive Disorders ,Personality Assessment ,Parental Death ,Anticipatory grief ,Child of Impaired Parents ,Rating scale ,Neoplasms ,Adaptation, Psychological ,Developmental and Educational Psychology ,medicine ,Humans ,Child ,Psychiatry ,Child Behavior Checklist ,Terminal Care ,Psychiatry and Mental health ,Anxiety ,Female ,Social competence ,medicine.symptom ,Personality Assessment Inventory ,Psychology ,Psychosocial ,Bereavement ,Clinical psychology - Abstract
Although a substantial number of children experience serious parental illness and death, the adjustment problems attendant to the stress of having a fatally ill parent have not been examined systematically. This paper compares the psychosocial adjustment of 62 school-aged children with a terminally ill parent (study sample) with that of children in a community sample, using several standard rating scales. Study children had significantly higher levels of self-reported depression (Children's Depression Inventory) and anxiety (State-Trait Anxiety Inventory) and lower self-esteem (Self-Esteem Inventory). Parents also reported study children's significantly higher behavior problems and lower social competence (Child Behavior Checklist). Increased professional attention to this vulnerable population is encouraged.
- Published
- 1992
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