Psychological adjustment and coping in a population of children with recurrent syncope

The authors examined the association of psychological adjustment, styles of coping, and disease severity for children with recurrent syncope. Particip ants were 44 children and adolescents with a history of recurrent syncope a nd 40 healthy comparison control children. Dependent variables were measure s of internalizing adjustment (e.g., anxiety, depression, withdrawal) repor ted by children and their parents and styles of coping reported by children . Parents reported higher frequencies of the internalizing of behavioral sy mptoms (i.e., anxiety, withdrawal) for children with recurrent syncope comp ared with their healthy counterparts. Children's self-reports did not revea l significant differences between the syncope and comparison groups in psyc hological adjustment and styles of coping. The authors conclude from these findings that adjustment difficulties, including symptoms of anxiety and so cial withdrawal, may occur with recurrent syncope. Implications for clinica l practice and future research are discussed.