Abstract
Charting the developmental characteristics of children’s understanding of illness and health might make important contributions to the applied context of pediatric care. Earlier work has provided anecdotal descriptive information on children’s hospital experiences (Adams & Berman, 1965), examined correlates of child health attitudes and beliefs (Goochman, 1971; Mechanic, 1964), and compared mother-child conceptions of illness (Campbell, 1975), but little has been done to explore the stage-related development of illness concepts, paralleling earlier investigations of such concepts as life and consciousness (Piaget, 1929), prayer and religious identity (Elkind, 1962; 1967), and death (Childers & Wimmer, 1971; Koocher, 1973). The aim of the present study was to document the development of illness and health causality concepts in young hospitalized children (ages 4–9 years) whose stage of cognitive development may limit understanding of illness and treatment. It was hypothesized that developmental transitions would characterize children’s conceptions of illness and that these transitions would parallel other indices of cognitive growth such as conservation and decentration.
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