Coping with everyday and disease-related stressors by chronically ill children and adolescents

This study examines those aspects of disease that chronically ill children find stressful and the coping strategies they report using to manage these stressors. In particular, we examined whether a state or trait conceptualization of coping was most applicable to this population. A total of 177 children with varying chronic illnesses were asked to complete a coping checklist in response to a self-generated illness-related problem and an everyday problem. Analyses of coping strategy stability revealed gender but not age effects. Some coping strategies were used equally across varying illness-related stressors, but others, e.g. distraction, blaming others, and emotional regulation, varied by type of stressor. Moderately consistent patterns were found across illness-related and non-illness-related situations for the same individual. The results suggest that coping strategies used by chronically ill children have some stability but do vary across situations. Clinicians might benefit from routine screening of coping in chronically ill children.