PEDIATRICS Vol. 66 No. 6 December 1980, pp. 912-917
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Development of Children's Concepts of Illness

Roger Bibace PhD1 and Mary E. Walsh PhD1

1 Department of Psychology, Clark University, and Department of Family and Community Medicine, University of Massachusetts Medical School, Worcester, Massachusetts

This study examines the development of children's concepts of illness in light of Piaget's and Werner's findings regarding the ontogenesis of causal relations. Six developmentally ordered categories of explanation of illness have been articulated. These catagories, which are consistent with Piaget's three major stages of cognitive development, can be useful to pediatricians (1) in explaining illness and providing "reassurance" to children, (2) in developing meaningful health education strategies, and (3) in responding to the degree of control the child feels over the illness.

Submitted on April 13, 1979
Accepted on February 16, 1980




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