THE ROLE OF PARENTAL AND EXTRAFAMILIAL SOCIAL SUPPORT IN THE PSYCHOSOCIAL ADJUSTMENT OF CHILDREN WITH A CHRONICALLY ILL FATHER

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.