The Role of Family Processes and Coping Strategies in the Relationship Between Parental Chronic Illness and Childhood Internalizing Problems

Sixty-nine families (father, mother, and one child) in which the father had hemophilia, approximately half of whom were HIV positive, were assessed in an examination of the relationship between parental chronic illness, family functioning, child coping strategies, and child adjustment. Latent variable path analyses with partial least-squares estimation procedures (PLS) were used to test a model of the relationship between parental chronic illness, family process variables, child coping strategies, and child internalizing behavior problems. The severity of the father's illness predicted family process variables, which predicted the coping style of the child. The use of more avoidant coping strategies was associated with more internalizing problems.