Related Experiment Videos
Social functioning in children with a chronic illness
S A Meijer1, G Sinnema, J O Bijstra
1University Medical Center Utrecht, The Wilhelmina Children's Hospital, Department of Pediatric psychology, The Netherlands. s.meijer@wkz.azu.nl
Insights
Children with chronic illnesses show fewer aggressive behaviors but more submissive behaviors compared to healthy peers. Physical restrictions and pain correlate with reduced social activities, highlighting vulnerability in social development.
Area of Science:
- Child Psychology
- Pediatric Health
- Social Functioning
Background:
- Chronic illness in children impacts behavioral, cognitive, and affective aspects of social functioning.
- Understanding peer interaction is crucial for the social development of chronically ill children.
Purpose of the Study:
- To compare peer interaction in chronically ill children with healthy norms.
- To investigate the relationship between illness characteristics (physical restrictions, pain) and peer interaction.
Main Methods:
- Assessed peer interaction using multiple measures: social activities (CBCL), parent-reported social skills (CABS), child-reported social skills (MESSY), social self-esteem (SPPC), and social anxiety (SASK).
- Included 107 children with chronic illnesses and compared them with normative data from healthy children.
Main Results:
- No significant differences in social functioning were found across different chronic illness diagnoses.
- Chronically ill children reported less aggressive behavior and exhibited more submissive behavior compared to healthy children.
- Physical restrictions and pain were associated with reduced social activities, but not other social interaction measures.
Conclusions:
- Social consequences of chronic illness are not diagnosis-specific.
- Children with chronic illnesses exhibiting submissive behavior or restricted social activities are particularly vulnerable to social development issues.
- Targeted attention and support are needed for vulnerable chronically ill children to mitigate social development problems.
Abstract:
Behavioural, cognitive, and affective aspects of social functioning of 107 children with a chronic illness were studied. The aim of the study was twofold: (1) to describe peer interaction of children with a chronic illness in comparison with normative data of healthy children; (2) to examine whether peer interaction was related to the illness characteristics physical restrictions and pain. Peer interaction was assessed with measures of social activities (CBCL), parent-reported social skills (CABS), child-reported social skills (MESSY), social self-esteem (SPPC), and social anxiety (SASK). Results showed no differences between diagnosis groups, suggesting that the social consequences of chronic illness are not diagnosis specific. Compared with healthy norms, chronically ill children reported less aggressive behaviour. The parent-report measures suggested a similar trend. Children with chronic illness also tended to display more submissive behaviour than healthy norms, as perceived by their parents. With regard to illness characteristics, both physical restrictions and pain were associated with restricted social activities, but not with other measures of social peer interaction. Children who display submissive behaviour and children who are restricted in their social activities should receive extra attention because they are especially vulnerable for problems in their social development.