Benefit finding and well-being in children with life threatening illnesses: An integrative study

Abstract

Objective: We examined whether benefit finding (BF) in children with a life-threatening illness (such as cancer or organ transplantation) would be related to a wide range of positive and negative measures of psychological functioning and some medical variables. Methods: A sample of children with a life threatening illness (N = 67, ages 7-18 years) completed the Benefit Finding Scale for Children (BFSC) and other positive and negative measures of psychological functioning. Results: Children exposed to a moderate severity of their disease had the strongest levels of BF. While BF was positively associated with different dimensions of well-being, it was generally not related to distress with some exceptions in the health-related quality of life domain. Conclusion: Our results showed that BF reflects a positive outcome in its own right and not just a mere reduction of distress. Yet, there are some health-related domains of quality of life that should be considered in therapeutic intervention to facilitate BF. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2014 APA, all rights reserved). (journal abstract)