Abstract
The purpose of the study was to examine the hypothesis that parents’ psychological well-being can be affected by a child’s illness and their social situations. In this study, we discuss the roles of coping, social support and situational context related to stress. These factors cannot only affect stress levels but can also influence whether the individual adopts a certain type of coping style for stressful events. Parental stress, coping styles and social support were compared between groups of parents of Hepatitis B virus (HBV) carrier children or healthy children. Results showed that parents of affected children were significantly more stressed and psychologically at risk, and tended to mobilize personal resources and to rely more on themselves to solve stressful life events. They also sought help from social resources more often than did parents of healthy children. Parents of healthy children had a higher number of close friends and relatives available to them. Ninety Chinese parents and their HBV or healthy children participated in this study. These families were all living in the city of Guangzhou, China.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Anastasi, A. (1982). Psychological testing. New York: McMillan.
Argyle, M., Henderson, M., Bond, M., Contarello, A., & Iizuka, Y. (1986). Cross-cultural variations in relationship rules. International Journal of Psychology 12: 287–315.
Azarnoff, P. (1984). Parents and siblings of pediatric patients. Current Problems in Pediatrics 14(3): 1–40.
Bates, A.P, & Babohuk, N. (1961). The primary group: A reappraisal. Sociological Quarterly 2, 181–191.
Beck, A.T. (1970). Depression: Causes and treatment. Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press.
Belsky, J. (1984). The determinents of parenting: A process model. Child Development 55, 83–96.
Bronfenbrenner, U. (1986). Ecology of the family as a context for human development: Research perspectives. Development Psychology 22: 723–742.
Broom, L., & Selznick, P. (1973). Sociology. New York: Harper & Row.
Chan, D.W. (1985). The Chinese version of the General Health Questionnaire: Does language make a difference? Psychological Medicine 15: 147–155.
Cheung, F.M.C. & Lau, B.W.K. (1982). Situational variations in help seeking behavior among Chinese patients. Comprehensive Psychiatry 23: 252–262.
Cohen, S., & Wills, T.A. (1985). Stress, social support, and buffering hypothesis. Psychological Bulletin 98:310–357.
Cooper, D., & Shepherd, M. (1973). Epidemiology and abnormal psychology. In A.J. Eysenck (Ed.). Handbook of abnormal psychology. London: Pitman Medical.
Crittenden, P. (1985). Social networks, quality of child rearing, and child development. Child Development 56: 1299–1313.
Crumbaugh, J.C. and Maholick, L.T. (1964). An experimental study in existentialism: The psychometric approach to Frankl’s concept of neogenic neurosis. Journal of Clinical Psychology 20: 200–207.
Garbarino, J. (1976). A preliminary study of some ecological correlates of child abuse: The impact of socioeconomic stress on mothers. Child Development 47: 178–185.
Goldberg, D.P. (1980). The detection of psychiatric illness by questionnaire. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Goldberg, D.P., Blackwell, B. (1970). Psychiatric illness in general practice: A detailed study using a new method of case identification, British Medical Journal 2: 439–443.
Harding, T.W. (1980). Mental disorders in primary health care: A study of their frequency and diagnosis in four developing countries. Psychological Medicine 10: 231–241.
Henderson, S., Byrne, D.G., & Duncan-Jones, P. (1981). Neurosis and the social environment. Sydney: Academic Press Australia.
House, J.S. (1981). Work stress and social support. Reading, Massachusetts: AddisonWesley.
Hwang, K.K. (1977). The patterns of coping strategies in a Chinese society. Acta Psycholgical Taiwanica 19: 61–73.
Jackson, J.S., Antonucci, T.C., & Gibson, R.C. (1991). Social relations, productive activities, and coping with stress in late life. In M.A.P. Stephens, J.J. Crowther, S.E. Hobfoll, & D.L. Tennenbaum (Eds.), Stress and coping in later-life families. New York: Hemisphere.
Jourard, S. M. & Landsman, T. (1980). Healthy personality: An Approach from the viewpoint of humanistic psychology. New York: McMillan.
Kupst, M.J., & Schulman, J. L. (1988). Long-term coping with pédiatrie leukemia: A six-year follow-up study. Journal of Pediatric Psychology 13: 7–22.
Linn, M.W. (1985). A Global Assessment of Recent Stress (GARS). Scale. International Journal of Psychiatry in Medicine 15(1): 47–59.
Litwak, E., & Szelenyi, I. (1969). Primary group structures and their functions: Kin, neighbors and friends. American Sociological Review 34: 465–481.
Maccoby, E.E. & Martin, J.A. (1983). Socialization in the context of the family. In E.M. Hetherington (Ed.)., Handbook of child psychology: Socialization personality and social development (Vol. 4). New York: Wiley.
Miles, M.S., Carter, M.C., Spicher, C, & Hassanein, R.S. (1984). Maternal and paternal stress reactions when a child is hospitalized in a pediatrie intensive care unit. Issues in Comprehensive Pediatric Nursing 7: 333–342.
Morrow, G.R., Carpenter, P.J., & Hoagland, A.C. (1984). The role of social support in parental adjustment to pediatrie cancer. Journal of Pediatrie Psychology 9: 317–329.
Rothstein, P. (1980). Psychological stress in families of children in a pediatrie intensive care unit. Pediatric Clinics of North America 21: 613–620.
Shek, D.T.L., Lee, E.S.P., & Lam, L.K.H. (1987). Adolescent mental health: An epidemiological study in Hong Kong. Paper presented at the 4th International Symposium on Adolescent Health, Australian Association for Adolescent Health, Sydney, Australia.
Shek, D.T.L., Hong, E.W., & Cheung, M.Y.P. (1987). The Purpose in Life Questionnaire in a Chinese context. Journal of Psychology 10: 77–84.
Shek, D.T.L., & Mak, W.K. (1987). Psychological well-being of working parents in Hong Kong: Mental health, stress and coping responses. Hong Kong: Hong Kong Christian Services.
Smith, S., Hanson, R., & Noble, S. (1980). Social aspects of the battered baby syndrome. In J. Cook & R. Bowels (Eds.)., Child abuse: Commission and omission (pp. 205–226). Toronto: Butterworths.
Turner, R.J. (1981). Experienced social support as a contingency in emotional well-being. Journal of Health and Social Behavior 22: 357–367.
Weinraub, M., & Wolf, B (1983). Effects of stress and social supports on mother-child interactions in single-and two-parent families. Child Development 54: 1297–1311.
Wolf, L.C., Noh, S., Fisman, S.N., & Speechley, M. (1989). Brief report: Psychological effects of parenting stress on parents of autistic children. Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders 19: 157–166.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Lai, A.C., Salili, F. Parental stress, coping styles, and social supports in chinese families with hepatitis-b-carrying children. Curr Psychol 16, 65–82 (1997). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12144-997-1016-x
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12144-997-1016-x