Family reinforcement of illness behavior: A comparison of adolescents withchronic fatigue syndrome, juvenile arthritis, and healthy controls

Parental encouragement of illness behavior is hypothesized to correlate wit h psychosocial dysfunction in adolescents with chronic illness. To explore this hypothesis, adolescents aged 11 to 17 years with chronic fatigue syndr ome (CFS) (n = 10), juvenile rheumatoid arthritis (JRA) (n = 16), and healt hy adolescents (n = 14) were recruited for the study. Measures included the Achenbach parent and youth self report forms, the Family Adaptability and Cohesion Evaluation Scale-ii (FACES II), the Children's Depression Rating S cale, and number of days absent from school. The Illness Behavior Encourage ment Scale (IBES) generated measures of parental reinforcement of illness b ehavior. As predicted, the teens with CFS scored statistically higher on me asures of depression, total competence, and number of days of school missed in the previous 6 months (mean = 40). Children with JRA scored significant ly lower than the CFS group on the measure of parental reinforcement of ill ness behavior. The healthy group produced intermediate scores. Results and implications for future clinical and research activity are discussed.