Coping Strategies and Family Functioning in a Group of Parents of Children With Hemophilia

Abstract

Introduction: Current conceptions of health, increasingly reaffirm the role and commitment of the family in the care, maintenance and optimizing the health of its members. When the diagnosis of disease affects one of its members, especially if this is a child such as hemophilia, an alteration of the system usually occurs. It is essential to know the coping strategies used by parents to avoid or prevent a family dysfunctionality.

Aim. Analysis of coping strategies of families of children with hemophilia and their impact on family functioning.

Methods: A cross‐sectional study with a sample of 44 fathers (average age: 38.89) of children with haemophilia from 1 to 12 years old. We recorded clinical characteristics of children, sociodemographic of parents, Family functioning (Faces III) and Coping Strategies (CSI).

Results: The mean age of children was 6.86. An 88.6% had haemophilia A severe and the same proportion was in prophylactic treatment. The frequency of haemarthrosis was 79.5% and diagnosis of arthropathy in 15.9%, only an 11.4% presented inhibitor. The 56.8% of parents do not know to do treatment. The parents that their children had inhibitor and practiced the self‐treatment used problem‐solving, emotional expression and cognitive restructuring as strategies of coping (d = 0.45). Too, they presented a greater cohesion in the familiar functioning (P < 0.05). The same results we find that their children are arthropathy diagnosis. However, those parents that their children not had inhibitor employed the self‐criticism (P < 0.01) and the support social (d = 0.79) as strategies of coping and a greater perceived adaptation in the family functioning (P < 0.05).Problem‐solving as coping strategy is more used by parent than their children have more than 8 years old and a more distance from hospital they used social withdrawal.

Discussion/Conclusion: We note that parents of children with hemophilia show good coping strategies to disease. The complications, that they are encountered, for the moment, do not affect their family functioning which will promote acceptance and adaptation of the child in the future. It is very important that professionals evaluate these family issues for better management and control of disease, both in the family and the child.