Facilitating Child Coping with Chronic Illness

Abstract

Chapter 2 reviews research in key areas that are resilience factors for facilitating child coping with a chronic illness. For instance, positive social functioning is a component of successful adjustment that has a positive impact on developmental outcome. Enhancing the child’s strengths and improving peer and family support are strategies for improving child functioning and resilience. Research on the effectiveness of support groups is presented and online support interventions are a method for reaching children who do not have access to support groups in their area. Helping children cope with grief and adjust to loss – associated with their chronic illness – is an area where mental health providers should develop skills, if they are interested in working with children who have chronic illnesses. Learning about interventions for improving emotional and behavioral functioning, especially coping with anxiety and depression in children, are other areas for skill-building.

Keywords: Child coping, chronic illness, emotional functioning, facilitating resilience, grief, peer support, social functioning, support groups.

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