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Psychosocial adjustment of adolescents with end-stage renal disease

University of British Columbia

The psychosocial adjustment of nine adolescents with end-stage renal disease (ESRD) was described by two standard psychologic tests; Piers-Harris Self-Concept Scale and Nowicki-Strickland Locus of Control. Life Events were recorded to evaluate the effect of stress at the time of testing. The mean self-concept scores were higher (p = .009) for the ESRD adolescents than the normative sample. However, the individual's scores did not differ significantly. The Life Events were comparable to the healthy population for age. The family members were assessd on the Family Assessment Measure (FAM) to assess the influence of family functioning on adolescent psychosocial adjustment. The standardized FAM scores were comparable to a normative sample. Cluster analysis of the ESRD adolescents revealed three groups differing significantly on: self-concept, locus of control, FAM self-rating and number of years from diagnosis to dialysis. Significant differences were maintained across the family members on FAM General Scale and FAM Self-Rating Scale. The adequate psychosocial adjustment of the adolescents with ESRD is consistent with recent studies suggesting that chronically ill children and adolescents do not differ from healthy children. However, the results also suggest that within the study group, a number of individuals may be experiencing problems of adjustment.

Text

2010-07-26

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http://hdl.handle.net/2429/26892

Special Education

University of British Columbia

Graduate