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Emotional behaviors in chronically ill children
1Department of Nursing, California State University, Long Beach 90840.
Insights
Chronically ill children showed higher empathy, emotional responsiveness, and depression than well children. Diabetic children reported higher aggression and lower self-concept than asthmatic children.
Area of Science:
- Child Psychology
- Pediatric Health
- Emotional Development
Background:
- Chronic illnesses like diabetes and asthma can impact a child's emotional well-being and self-perception.
- Understanding these impacts is crucial for providing appropriate support to ill children.
- Previous research has explored various psychological aspects of childhood illness, but comparisons between specific conditions are less common.
Purpose of the Study:
- To compare emotional functioning, including empathy, emotional responsiveness, depression, aggression, and self-concept, between chronically ill (diabetes, asthma) and well school-age children.
- To investigate differences in these psychological measures between children with diabetes and those with asthma.
- To examine the relationship between specific chronic illnesses and children's self-concept and aggression levels.
Main Methods:
- A quasi-experimental design was employed.
- Participants included 80 chronically ill school-age children (9-11 years) with diabetes or asthma, and 40 age-matched well children.
- Standardized measures were used to assess empathy, emotional responsiveness, depression, aggression, and self-concept.
Main Results:
- Chronically ill children exhibited significantly higher levels of empathy, emotional responsiveness, and depression compared to well children.
- No significant differences were found in empathy, emotional responsiveness, or depression between children with diabetes and those with asthma.
- Diabetic children reported significantly higher aggression and lower self-concept than asthmatic children, though neither ill group differed from well children in aggression. Diabetic children did not differ from well children in self-concept.
Conclusions:
- Chronic childhood illnesses are associated with heightened emotional challenges, including increased empathy, emotional responsiveness, and depression.
- While overall emotional functioning is similarly affected across different chronic conditions, specific illnesses like diabetes may present unique challenges regarding aggression and self-concept.
- Interventions should consider the specific psychological needs of children with different chronic conditions to improve overall well-being.
Abstract:
Empathy, emotional responsiveness, depression, aggression, and self-concept in 80 chronically ill and 40 well school-age children (9-11 years) were examined in a quasi-experimental study. The ill children had either diabetes or asthma. Results suggested a similarity of emotional functioning for empathy, emotional responsiveness, and depression in the ill children. The ill children had significantly higher levels of these behaviors than the well children. The groups of ill children did not significantly differ from each other in these areas. The diabetic and asthmatic children significantly differed in aggression and self-concept. The diabetic children, however, did not differ from the well children in self-concept. The asthmatic children had the lowest self-reported aggression while the diabetic children had the highest. Neither ill group differed from the well children in aggression.