Psychosocial adjustment of children with chronic illness: An evaluation ofthree models

This study was designed to assess social, emotional, and behavioral functio ning of children with chronic illness and to evaluate three models addressi ng the impact of chronic illness on psychosocial functioning: discrete dise ase, noncategorical, and mixed. Families of children with cancer, sickle ce ll disease, hemophilia, and juvenile rheumatoid arthritis participated, alo ng with families of classroom comparison peers without a chronic illness wh o had the closest date of birth and were of the same race and gender (COMPs ). Mothers, fathers, and children provided information regarding current fu nctioning of the child with chronic illness or the COMP child. Child Behavi or Checklist and Children's Depression Inventory scores were examined. Resu lts provided support for the noncategorical model. Thus, the mixed model ev aluated in this study requires modifications before its effectiveness as a classification system can be demonstrated.