Children's conceptions about illness: A research review

This review reports the state of research on the development of children's and adolescent's illness representations. The review begins with an overview about theoretical approaches used as bases for the research on the development of conceptions about illness. The following sections address the development of conceptions about illness in different age groups. Age groups are differentiated according to school level (preschool, elementary school, secondary school). For each developmental stage, the conceptions about illness symptoms, about the causes of illnesses, as well as the progression and treatment of illnesses are addressed. The review is concluded by a summary and discussion of the current results.