J Clin Psychol

Illness specific patterns of psychological adjustment and cognitive adaptational processes in children with cystic fibrosis and sickle cell disease.

Thompson RJ Jr. Gustafson KE. Gil KM. Godfrey J. Murphy LM.
Duke University Medical Center, Durham, NC 27710, USA.
Illness-specific patterns of adjustment and cognitive adaptational process were identified in children (7-12 years of age) with cystic fibrosis (CF, n = 40) or sickle cell disease (SCD, n = 40). Anxiety diagnoses were most frequent for both illness subgroups but children with CF had a higher rate of oppositional disorder (27.5%) than did children with SCD (2.5%). Significant portions of the variance in adjustment were accounted for by stress appraisal (19%), expectations of efficacy (9%) and health locus of control (9%) for children with CF and by stress appraisal (21%) and self-worth (12%) for children with SCD. The interaction of general and specific illness tasks and adaptational process with developmental tasks in delineating intervention opportunities is discussed.