Rg. Steele et al., FAMILY MEMBERS UNCERTAINTY ABOUT PARENTAL CHRONIC ILLNESS - THE RELATIONSHIP OF HEMOPHILIA AND HIV-INFECTION TO CHILD FUNCTIONING, Journal of pediatric psychology, 22(4), 1997, pp. 577-591
Examined the relationships among parental and child uncertainty about
fathers' illnesses and child internalizing problems. Participants incl
uded 65 families in which the father had hemophilia, approximately one
half of the fathers also were HIV infected. Within each family, respo
ndents included the father, the mother, and one child. Outcome variabl
es included both self- and parent-reported child internalizing behavio
rs. Results indicated that family members' illness uncertainty was int
ercorrelated, that child uncertainty about the father's illness predic
ted both anxiety and depressive symptoms in the child, and that mother
's uncertainty predicted child-reported anxiety beyond the child's unc
ertainty.