Religious/spiritual coping in childhood cystic fibrosis: a qualitative study.
OBJECTIVE
To understand the role of religiousness/spirituality in coping in children with cystic fibrosis (CF).


METHODS
Participants were a convenience sample of 23 patients with CF, ages 5 to 12 years, and their parent(s) in an ambulatory CF clinic. The design was a focused ethnography including in-depth interviews with children and parent(s), children's drawings, and self-administered written parental questionnaires. Analysis used grounded theory.


RESULTS
Main outcome measures were participants' views on religion/spirituality in coping with illness. Data included 632 quotes organized into 257 codes categorized into 11 themes. One overarching domain emerged from analysis of the 11 themes: Religious/Spiritual Coping, composed of 11 religious/spiritual coping strategies.


CONCLUSIONS
Children with CF reported a variety of religious/spiritual coping strategies they nearly always associated with adaptive health outcomes. A preliminary conceptual framework for religious/spiritual coping in children with CF is presented. More study is needed to assess how variability in age, disease type, disease severity, religious/spiritual preference, and religious/spiritual intensity affect religious/spiritual coping in children with chronic illness. Future studies should also investigate whether physician attention to religious/spiritual coping could assist patients in coping with CF and strengthen the doctor-patient relationship.
Pendleton
Sara M
SM
Division of Ambulatory Pediatrics, Department of Pediatrics, Wayne State University, Detroit, Michigan. Wayne State University, Detroit, Michigan, USA. spendlet@med.wayne.edu
Cavalli
Kristina S
KS
Pargament
Kenneth I
KI
Nasr
Samya Z
SZ
D000223:Adaptation, Psychological; D001155:Art Therapy; D001294:Attitude to Health; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D003550:Cystic Fibrosis / Q000523:psychology*; D003922:Diabetes Mellitus, Type 1 / Q000523:psychology; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D012069:Religion and Psychology; D012944:Social Support; D029181:Spirituality