Pain, Fatigue, Family Functioning, and Attitude Toward Illness in Children with Juvenile Rheumatic Diseases

Pain and fatigue adversely affect the physical and psychosocial functioning of children with Juvenile Rheumatic Diseases (JRDs). Research investigating relations among disease severity and family functioning has produced mixed results. There is scant research examining the relations among illness attitudes and disease severity. Children (50 girls and 32 boys) with a JRD and their parents participated in this study. Parents completed a scale assessing family functioning and children completed information about their experience of pain and fatigue and attitude toward their illness. Regression analyses indicated that children experiencing more pain and fatigue were apt to hold negative attitudes toward their illness, and that parents reported lower family functioning when children were experiencing higher levels of fatigue. Research examining relations among child and reports of family functioning and children’s attitudes toward their illness will provide information for health care teams serving these children and their families.