Screening for Anxiety in Siblings of Children with Juvenile Idiopathic Arthritis
Background: Pediatric chronic illnesses can have a tremendous impact on children and their parents. Education and support is typically focused on the child and parents of those newly diagnosed with diabetes, cancer, renal failure, asthma, arthritis and other illnesses of childhood, often leaving siblings out of this important aspect. Siblings are not usually included in the support process afforded the parents and patient. This raised the question of whether siblings of children with arthritis have anxiety related to the unknowns of their sibling's diagnosis. Objective: To screen for anxiety and examine the influences of demographics on self-reported anxiety levels among a sample of siblings of children diagnosed with juvenile idiopathic arthritis. Design: A non-random, exploratory design to screen for anxiety among a purposive sample (N=27) siblings of children diagnosed with juvenile idiopathic arthritis. Method: Siblings between the ages of 8 and 15 completed the 44-item Spence Children's Anxiety Scale (SCAS). Parents completed a demographic survey. Results: An analysis of Variance (ANOVA) was used to compare mean scores between categories of respondents. While no variations by demographics were found when using standardized SCAS T-Scores, comparison of raw scores revealed statistically significant differences in mean SCAS scores by gender (P=.01) and age group (P=.05). Females and younger siblings were at higher risk of experiencing anxiety. A one sample T-Test compared the scores of this sample to a healthy non-clinical population of children between 8 and 15 years of age. It was found that this study sample of siblings scored approximately 10.6 points higher, which is a highly statistically significant (t=3.12,p=.004) difference. Conclusion: These outcomes offer substantial insight regarding anxiety experienced among siblings of children with juvenile idiopathic arthritis and suggest that younger sisters are at higher risk for developing anxiety
Thesis, Dissertation, English, 2016
Sacred Heart University
xiii, 78 leaves : illustrations (some color) ; 29 cm
1337056577
Chapter 1 Introduction : Background ; Problem Statement ; Purpose of Study ; Significance to Nursing ; Theoretical Framework ; Research Questions ; Chapter Summary
Chapter 2 Literature Review : Search Strategy ; Literature Review ; Instruments to Measure Anxiety in Children ; Interventions for Reducing Anxiety in Siblings ; Chapter Summary
Chapter 3 Methods ; Design ; Setting ; Sample ; Recruitment ; Measures ; Instrument ; Procedure ; Statistical Analysis ; Limitations ; Protection of Human Subjects ; Chapter Summary
Chapter 4 Results and Discussion : Purpose ; Research Questions ; Research Design and Methods ; Data Analysis ; Sample ; Demographic Characteristics ; Research Question 1 ; SCAS Scores ; Raw Scores ; SCAS T-Scores ; One-Sample T-Test ; Research Question 2 ; Pearson's Correlation ; Analysis of Variance (ANOVA) ; Chapter Summary
Chapter 5 Conclusions and Recommendations : Research Questions ; Sample ; Method ; Findings ; Limitations ; Implications ; Recommendations ; Future Study ; Summary
References
Appendices : A Assent/Consent Form ; B HIPAA Form ; C Demographic Sheet ; D Letter of Introduction ; E Raw Score Bar Graph ; F T-score Bar Graph ; G Follow-up Letter to Parents ; H Follow-up Letter to HCP
A practice dissertation presented to the faculty of the College of Nursing, Sacred Heart University in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Nursing Practice