title: Three wishes and psychological functioning in boys with duchenne muscular dystrophy.
abstract: This study examined Three Wishes (a projective technique commonly used with children) in boys with Duchenne muscular dystrophy (DMD), a fatal, progressive illness (n = 74). A reliable and parsimonious scoring system was developed to code wish type. Probands' responses were compared with unaffected siblings (n = 32) and a male comparison group (n = 43). Contrary to what was expected, the DMD group did not make significantly more health-related wishes than their siblings or the comparison group. Further, no association between health-related wishes and problem behaviors was observed in the DMD group. These findings indicate that, despite increased stressors, boys with DMD present wishes similar to those of their healthy peers.
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychiatry, Children's Hospital and Health Center, University of California, San Diego, California 92123, USA. nnereo@chsd.org
authors.forename: Nancy E
authors.initials: NE
authors.lastname: Nereo
authors.forename: Veronica J
authors.initials: VJ
authors.lastname: Hinton
mesh_terms: D000223:Adaptation, Psychological; D002648:Child; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D020388:Muscular Dystrophy, Duchenne / Q000523:psychology*; D010379:Peer Group; D011386:Projective Techniques / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D011594:Psychometrics; D012016:Reference Values; D035781:Siblings / Q000523:psychology; D012803:Sick Role