Mothers' resolution of their
childrens' diagnosis: Organized patterns of caregiving representations
Pianta, R. C., Marvin, R. S., Britner, P. A.,
& Borowitz, K. C.
Special issue: The caregiving system. Infant Mental Health Journal.(in press)
Abstract
In this paper we examine mothers' representations
of one form of trauma to the caregiving system: the experience
of receiving a diagnosis of a chronic illness or disability in
their child. An interview and classification system was used with
91 mothers of children ages 15 - 50 months with cerebral palsy
or epilepsy. Mothers were classified as Resolved or Unresolved
with respect to their child's diagnosis, and grouped into subcategories
within these major groups. Roughly half of these mothers were
classified as Unresolved with respect to their child's diagnosis.
Diagnosis type, severity of condition, developmental age, and
time since receiving diagnosis were all unrelated to the distribution
of Resolved/Unresolved classifications. Patterns of resolution
in which cognitive strategies predominated were the most frequent
form within the Resolved classification. Findings provide support
for the organizational nature of caregiving representations as
well as a number of implications for clinical practice.
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