OBJECTIVETo evaluate the effectiveness of educational interventions in children with chronic illness and their parents.

METHODSFifty children with chronic illness and 75 parents participated in the study. Children who were hospitalized between August 2007 and January 2008 and their parents received educational sessions and those who were hospitalized between February and July 2007 and who did not receive the sessions served as the control group. The content of the educational sessions included knowledge of chronic disease, drugs and self-care, and coping skills. The knowledge level, stressors, coping strategies, and psychological conditions of children with chronic illness and their parents were evaluated before discharge and three months after discharge.

RESULTSAfter educational interventions, the knowledge levels of children and their parents increased and the stressors decreased significantly in the intervention group compared with those in the control group. The children's parents in the intervention group used more active coping strategies (understanding the medical situations through communication with medical staff) than those in the control group. The differences in the medication compliance of children between the two groups were not found.

CONCLUSIONSThe educational interventions may result in an improved knowledge level and decrease stressors in children and their parents, and improve stress coping strategies in parents. There is no evidence that the educational intervention can improve the psychosocial conditions of children and their parents.

Adolescent ; Adult ; Child ; Chronic Disease ; psychology ; Female ; Humans ; Lupus Erythematosus, Systemic ; psychology ; Male ; Parents ; psychology ; Patient Education as Topic

OBJECTIVEIdentifying the stressors, coping strategies, and psychosocial state of children with chronic illness would be very useful to help them to adapt to chronic medical conditions. This study aimed to investigate the stressors, coping strategies, and psychosocial state of Chinese children with chronic illness.

METHODSTwo hundred and three children with chronic illness and aged 8-16 years were administered a semi-structured interview for the identification of stressors. Children's coping strategies and psychosocial state were investigated by the Coping with a Disease (CODI) scale, the Screen for Child Anxiety Related Emotional Disorders (SCARED) scale, and the Depression Self-rating Scale for Children (DSRSC).

RESULTSThe stressors in children with chronic illness mainly included four aspects: school performance, medication and treatment, daily life, and peer relationships. "Wishful thinking" was the most common coping strategy, followed by "acceptance". "Negative emotional reaction" was rarely seen in children with chronic illness. The scores of anxiety and depression scales of children with chronic illness were higher than those of the norm. The prevalence of anxiety disorders was 43.8%, the prevalence of depression disorders was 30.0%, and 26.1% of the children had both anxiety and depression disorders.

CONCLUSIONSChildren with chronic illness have many stressors. Though they usually use active coping strategies, the prevalence of anxiety disorders and the prevalence of depression disorders were high.

Adaptation, Psychological ; Adolescent ; Anxiety ; epidemiology ; Child ; Chronic Disease ; psychology ; Depression ; epidemiology ; Female ; Humans ; Male ; Prevalence ; Stress, Psychological ; etiology