ABSTRACT
The experience of an acute or chronic illness is potentially stress-evoking for children and their families, providing an opportunity to study adaptation during naturally occurring stress. The primary focus of this chapter concerns a functional analysis of the specific task demands and coping behaviors in “sick” children and their families. A developmental framework is employed as children of different ages have different capacities for handling stress. A number of factors that mediate the impact of stressful medical experiences on the child and family are identified. Finally, two research approaches, one using a functional analysis of coping behaviors and one employing a microanalysis of parental influences on coping are described.
