CHRONICALLY ILL CHILDREN'S MOTHERS' PERCEPTIONS OF ENVIRONMENTAL VARIABLES.
Contributors: University of Alabama at Birmingham.
Published: 1992
Number of pages: 126
Subjects: Health Sciences, Nursing.; Sociology, General.
Description: Environments play a critical role in supporting families, ameliorating isolation, promoting group values, and providing resources (Garbarino, 1976). For families with a chronically ill child the role of the environment is of great importance in that child's successful development and socialization into a productive member of society. Previous research has documented the role of the environment in predicting child abuse and neglect; though little is known about the role of the environment for families with a chronically ill child. The purpose of this study was to examine the interaction of environmental variables on mothers' perceptions of the environment as supportive, resourceful, safe, and accessible.

A secondary analysis of two existing data bases (Holaday & Turner-Henson, 1991; U.S. Bureau of the Census, 1980) was utilized in this descriptive survey study. The sample consisted of 158 chronically ill children between the ages of 9.5 to 13.5 years. A noncategorical approach, focusing on commonalities across disease categories rather than on disease-specific differences (Stein & Jessop, 1982) was utilized providing a wide range of disease entities resulting in a comprehensive representation of the experiences of chronically ill children and their families. Data from the Holaday & Turner-Henson (1991) data set utilized in this study consisted of mothers' reported perceptions about the environment. U.S. Census data identifying environmental factors (e.g., median family income, families in poverty, female employment, female educational levels, and population density) was identified based on the subject's census block.

As hypothesized, the interaction of environmental variables were found to be predictive of mothers' perceptions of the environment as resourceful, safe, and accessible. The interaction of environmental variables was not predictive of mothers' perceptions of the environment as supportive.

The findings of this study showed that the interaction of environmental factors does influence mothers' perceptions of the environment. Nursing implications utilizing Johnson's Behavioral System's model provided a framework for identifying functional requirements of mothers' caretaking behaviors upon which nursing interventions may be based. Further research is needed to explore the influence of the environment on chronically ill children and their families.
Notes: Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 53-07, Section: B, page: 3405.

Thesis (D.S.N.)--UNIVERSITY OF ALABAMA AT BIRMINGHAM, 1992.

School code: 0005.