Ba. Kotchick et al., THE ROLE OF PARENTAL AND EXTRAFAMILIAL SOCIAL SUPPORT IN THE PSYCHOSOCIAL ADJUSTMENT OF CHILDREN WITH A CHRONICALLY ILL FATHER, Behavior modification, 21(4), 1997, pp. 409-432
The relationships among illness stress, perceived support, and child p
sychosocial adjustment were examined for children living with a chroni
cally ill father. Participants included fathers, mothers, and one chil
d from 53 families in which the father had hemophilia and, in some cas
es, was HIV seropositive. Objective indicators of severity of illness
and subjective measures of the physical and psychological impact of il
lness were used as sources of children's stress. Results indicated tha
t the impact of illness, but not the severity of illness itself, relat
ed to child psychosocial adjustment. Main effects were observed for pa
rental support on child- and parent-reported internalizing problems an
d stress-buffering effects were obtained for parental support and extr
afamilial support on parent-reported internalizing problems. Parental
support also demonstrated a stress-buffering effect for child-reported
depression. Assessment and intervention implications for behavioral c
linicians and researchers are discussed.