ABSTRACT
The psychological factors related to children's medical conditions weave a complex pattern, both during and following illness. The reality is that aggression, depression, and regression are challenging nurturance traps for parents, teachers, physicians, and therapists. The natural outcome of an overgeneralized increase in positive interactions and supportive actions as a result of illness is to reinforce performance at a level that attained in the previous developmental progression. A nurturance trap may be described as a psychological variable, secondary to the health disorder that effectively enables a maladaptive and countertherapeutic reaction from caregivers. Aggression and coercive activity toward oneself or others can be employed to ensure that people and activities stay or return or that they leave or remain absent. A child may demonstrate strong preference for attention and personal control at a maladaptive regressed level of performance and may be resistant to attempts to facilitate developmental recovery.
