Family coping strategies and chronic illness in the mother

• Published in: Family relations 1986-10, Vol.35 (4), p.515-522
• Main Authors: Stetz, K.M, Lewis, F.M, Primomo, J
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Breast cancer; Chronic diseases; Coping strategies; decision making; Diseases; family crises; Family members; Family relations; Fibrocystic breast disease; home management; household cleaning; Household management; Households; illness; longitudinal studies; Mothers; problem solving
• ISSN: 0197-6664; 1741-3729
• DOI: 10.2307/584512

The purpose of the current study was to describe the types of coping strategies household families use to manage problems that affect them when the mother has a chronic illness. Data presented are cross-sectional data from first occasion interviews collected as part of a larger longitudinal study of 125 families (Lewis, Woods, & Ellison, 1983) in which the mother has either breast cancer, fibrocystic breast disease or diabetes. The instrument used to collect data on family coping was the Problem Centered Family Coping Interview (Lewis, 1983). Study families reported a mean number of 4.02 coping strategies per family. Using content analysis, 55 mutually exclusive coping strategies were identified from open-ended interview questions. These 55 categories were combined into 10 composite categories by content area for purposes of statistical analysis. The most frequent composite category reported by the study sample was alterations in household management which represented 38% of the types of strategies employed by these families. The type of chronic illness in the mother did not differentiate the families by categories of management strategies.