Ellerton M L, Stewart M J, Ritchie J A, Hirth A M
School of Nursing, Dalhousie University, Halifax, Nova Scotia.
Can J Nurs Res. 1996 Winter;28(4):15-36.
This study used a descriptive exploratory design to describe social support in children with a chronic condition and how children use social support in coping with everyday demands and demands related to their condition. Participants comprised 62 school-aged children (16 with diabetes, 16 with cystic fibrosis, 15 with spina bifida, and 15 with no chronic illness). Data were collected about their social-support networks, the support functions provided by the networks, and their satisfaction with support. The children also described the social support they received and their use of social support as a coping strategy in specific stressful situations. The healthy children had the largest support networks overall and the largest peer networks. Children with spina bifida had the smallest networks overall and the smallest number of peers in their networks. Healthy children reported more support overall than the children in the illness groups. Both the healthy children and the children with a chronic condition described academic issues as the main source of everyday stress. Children with a chronic condition identified restriction due to illness as the key illness-related stressor. Children with a chronic condition reported more stress and more support-seeking in everyday stressful situations than in illness situations. The results will guide the design of a future social-support intervention for children with a chronic condition.
本研究采用描述性探索性设计，以描述患有慢性疾病儿童的社会支持情况，以及儿童如何利用社会支持来应对日常需求和与自身疾病相关的需求。研究对象包括62名学龄儿童（16名患有糖尿病，16名患有囊性纤维化，15名患有脊柱裂，15名无慢性疾病）。收集了关于他们社会支持网络、网络提供的支持功能以及他们对支持的满意度的数据。孩子们还描述了他们所获得的社会支持，以及他们在特定压力情境下将社会支持作为应对策略的使用情况。总体而言，健康儿童拥有最大的支持网络和最大的同伴网络。脊柱裂患儿的网络总体规模最小，其网络中的同伴数量也最少。健康儿童报告的总体支持比患病组儿童更多。健康儿童和患有慢性疾病的儿童都将学业问题描述为日常压力的主要来源。患有慢性疾病的儿童将因病导致的行动受限确定为与疾病相关的关键压力源。患有慢性疾病的儿童报告称，在日常压力情境中比在疾病相关情境中感受到更多压力，且寻求支持的情况也更多。这些结果将为未来针对患有慢性疾病儿童的社会支持干预设计提供指导。
