About this Research Topic

Background

Strategies to cope with a chronic illness can be defined as “cognitive and behavioral efforts to manage specific external or internal demands that are appraised as taxing or exceeding the resources of a person”. In the context of a chronic illness, individuals have to cope with the management of the illness itself, the indirect impact of the illness and associated treatment on their daily life (e.g., impact on school engagement), as well as everyday stressors unrelated to the illness (e.g., parenting, conflicts with friends). Despite a substantive body of literature exploring coping strategies and quality of life in children and adults living with a chronic illness, several challenges remain. This includes a large number and inconsistent use of coping frameworks or models as well as vague and inconsistent operationalization of coping strategies. These issues are particularly apparent in the context of pediatric chronic illnesses.

Consequently, the goal of this Research Topic is to bundle innovative and cutting-edge research that increases our understanding of the role and underlying mechanisms of coping strategies within pediatric chronic illnesses.

For this article collection, we welcome a wide range of articles that address any pediatric chronic health condition and disease, such as arthritis, asthma, cancer, chronic pain, cystic fibrosis, diabetes, gastrointestinal conditions, obesity, sickle cell disease, and injury.

Articles need to contribute to the improvement of our understanding of the role of and/or underlying mechanism of coping strategies in pediatric chronic illness. For instance, topics that are within the scope of this Research Topic are: coping with treatment burden, chronic pain, social implications, treatment adherence, school functioning, hospitalization, physical limitations, sleep, peer relationships, family factors, activities of daily living, and developmentally appropriate tasks or independence. However, although children with a chronic illness often need to undergo painful medical procedures (e.g., blood draws), articles on coping with medical procedures specifically are NOT within the scope of this Research Topic.

Within the broad areas of interest outlined above, a particular focus will be on articles that drive the field forward in terms of advances in conceptualization, measurement, and clinical applications. We are looking for work that adds specificity and clarity to a difficult topic area and has the potential to influence research and care beyond the specific health condition. Therefore, authors should clearly indicate in their abstract how they foresee that their work will clarify, improve or advance existing concepts, frameworks or models of coping, by including actionable suggestions for future research and clinical applications. An abstract MUST be submitted prior to any manuscript, with Topic Editors expecting an abstract of around 350 words.

Keywords: Chronic illness, coping, wellbeing, pediatric, family

Important note: All contributions to this Research Topic must be within the scope of the section and journal to which they are submitted, as defined in their mission statements. Frontiers reserves the right to guide an out-of-scope manuscript to a more suitable section or journal at any stage of peer review.

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