Skip to main content

Advertising Disclaimer »

Main menu

  • Journals
    • Pediatrics
    • Hospital Pediatrics
    • Pediatrics in Review
    • NeoReviews
    • AAP Grand Rounds
    • AAP News
  • AAP Policy
    • Topic/Program Collections
    • Policy
  • Pediatric Collections
    • COVID-19
    • Racism and Its Effect on Pediatric Health
    • More Collections...
  • Multimedia
    • Video Abstracts
    • Pediatrics On Call Podcast
  • Alerts
    • Table of Contents
    • Insights
  • AAP Career Center
  • Subscribe
  • Other Publications
    • American Academy of Pediatrics

User menu

  • Log in
  • My Cart

Search

  • Advanced search
American Academy of Pediatrics

AAP Gateway

Advanced Search

AAP Logo

  • Log in
  • My Cart
  • Journals
    • Pediatrics
    • Hospital Pediatrics
    • Pediatrics in Review
    • NeoReviews
    • AAP Grand Rounds
    • AAP News
  • AAP Policy
    • Topic/Program Collections
    • Policy
  • Pediatric Collections
    • COVID-19
    • Racism and Its Effect on Pediatric Health
    • More Collections...
  • Multimedia
    • Video Abstracts
    • Pediatrics On Call Podcast
  • Alerts
    • Table of Contents
    • Insights
  • AAP Career Center
  • Subscribe

Study: Children with chronic illness just as happy as peers

Melissa Jenco, News Content Editor
May 06, 2019

Children with a chronic illness often lead lives that are just as happy as those of healthier peers, according to a new study.

Medical advancements may mean children with chronic conditions live longer, prompting researchers to look at their overall health status and their satisfaction with life. They analyzed data from the National Institutes of Health’s Patient-Reported Outcomes Measurement Information System in which caregivers answered questions about 1,253 children ages 5-9.

Consistent with previous prevalence estimates, 20% of the children had a chronic illness such as asthma, obesity, digestive problems, depression and epilepsy, according to “General Health and Life Satisfaction in Children with Chronic Illness,” (Blackwell CK, et al. Pediatrics. May 6, 2019, https://pediatrics.aappublications.org/content/early/2019/05/02/peds.2018-2988).

As researches predicted, children with a chronic illness also tended to have worse overall health. Those with the worst general health were boys, Hispanic children and children from single-parent households. Increased stress was linked to worse health, while having a high-income family was associated with better health.

Parents’ perceptions of their children’s happiness and life satisfaction were similar regardless of whether their child had a chronic illness, the study found. As with overall health, stress was linked to lower satisfaction, and high-income families were linked to higher satisfaction.

"The current study suggests that having a chronic illness is certainly a health challenge (evidenced by lower parent-reported general health) but does not preclude these children from having happy and satisfying lives that are comparable with those of peers without illness,” authors wrote.

They attributed the life satisfaction of children with a chronic illness to “positive health assets,” which “strengthen one’s capabilities to adapt to environmental challenges, satisfy needs, and attain goals, which enable well-being.”

“Overall, this work highlights clinical opportunities to broaden the perspective of health beyond the absence of disease to one in which all children, regardless of illness or impairment, can have well-being,” authors said.

They called for future research with a nationally representative sample and analysis of the impact of specific illnesses.

Resources
  • AAP resources for managing chronic conditions
  • Information for parents about chronic illness in children from HealthyChildren.org
Copyright © 2019 American Academy of Pediatrics

Advertising Disclaimer »

Download PDF
Email News Article

Thank you for your interest in spreading the word on American Academy of Pediatrics.

NOTE: We only request your email address so that the person you are recommending the page to knows that you wanted them to see it, and that it is not junk mail. We do not capture any email address.

Enter multiple addresses on separate lines or separate them with commas.
Study: Children with chronic illness just as happy as peers
(Your Name) has sent you a message from American Academy of Pediatrics
(Your Name) thought you would like to see the American Academy of Pediatrics web site.
CAPTCHA
This question is for testing whether or not you are a human visitor and to prevent automated spam submissions.
Share
Study: Children with chronic illness just as happy as peers
Melissa Jenco
May 06, 2019
del.icio.us logo Digg logo Reddit logo Twitter logo CiteULike logo Facebook logo Google logo Mendeley logo
  • Tweet Widget
  • Facebook Like
  • Google Plus One
  • Digital Edition Current Issue
  • Latest Daily News
  • Archives
  • Collections
  • Columns
  • Advertising
  • Subscribe to AAP News Magazine
  • Terms of Use
  • Privacy Statement
  • FAQ
  • Contact Us
  • 2021 AAP Journals Catalog
  • Pediatrics
  • Pediatrics in Review
  • Hospital Pediatrics
  • NeoReviews
  • AAP Grand Rounds
  • AAP Career Center
  • shopAAP
  • AAP.org
  • AAP News
  • Visit AAP News on Facebook
  • Follow AAP News on Twitter
American Academy of Pediatrics

© 2021 American Academy of Pediatrics