As normal a life as possible: Mothers and their daughters with congenital heart disease
View File(s)
This study utilized qualitative descriptive methodology to examine the impact of the chronic illness, specifically congenital or acquired childhood heart disease, on the mother-daughter relationship. Many studies have examined the effects of the child's illness on the mother-child relationship when the child is very young, but few have looked at the ongoing problems that chronic illness may cause. The investigator observed in her own clinical practice that the mother-daughter relationship when the daughter was chronically ill frequently appeared more antagonistic and ambivalent. Fourteen mothers, eleven daughters, and three sons were interviewed. Daughters and sons ranged in age from nine to fifty-six. Three variables arose from the data. The core variable, which the author called "normalizing our relationship," included themes related to how mothers and their chronically ill daughters and sons try to maintain as normal a life as possible. The second variable, called "relating as mother and daughter," included those themes concerning how mothers and daughters cope with the daughter's chronic illness and how their relationship is impacted. The third variable, "relating to health care providers," spoke to how practitioners can help mothers and their chronically ill sons or daughters to manage their health problems. The core variable was related to the other two variables in that: (1) mothers and chronically ill daughters saw their relationships as very normal and unaffected by illness, and (2) all participants felt that the role of health care providers should be one of helping to maintain a normal lifestyle despite chronic illness. This study adds to existing nursing literature by reinforcing previous studies which describe attempts at and strategies for normalization by families of chronically ill children. It builds on this literature by examining the mother-child relationship when the child is chronically ill over the course of the lifespan.
This dissertation has also been disseminated through the ProQuest Dissertations and Theses database. Dissertation/thesis number: 9628472; ProQuest document ID: 304365206. The author still retains copyright.
This item has not gone through this repository's peer-review process, but has been accepted by the indicated university or college in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the specified degree.
| Type | Dissertation |
| Acquisition | Proxy-submission |
| Review Type | None: Degree-based Submission |
| Format | Text-based Document |
| Evidence Level | Other |
| Research Approach | Qualitative Research |
| Keywords | Mother/Daughter Relationships; Chronically Ill Children; Family Dynamics |
| CINAHL Subject(s) | Mothers; Daughters; Heart Defects, Congenital; Chronic Disease; Mother-Child Relations; Coping; Daughters--In Adulthood; Mother-Child Relations--Evaluation; Chronic Disease--Psychosocial Factors; Coping--Evaluation; Mother-Child Relations--Evaluation--In Adulthood |
| Grantor | University of Colorado |
| Advisor | Webster, Denise |
| Level | PhD |
| Year | 1996 |
All rights reserved by the author(s) and/or publisher(s) listed in this item record unless relinquished in whole or part by a rights notation or a Creative Commons License present in this item record.
All permission requests should be directed accordingly and not to the Sigma Repository.
All submitting authors or publishers have affirmed that when using material in their work where they do not own copyright, they have obtained permission of the copyright holder prior to submission and the rights holder has been acknowledged as necessary.
Related items
Showing items related by title, author, creator and subjects.
-
Adolescents' responses to single mothers' chronic physical illness
The purpose of this study was to describe selected concepts of adolescents living with a single, chronically physically ill mother and to examine the self-concept of these adolescents and the relationship of the self-concept ... -
Quality of life of adults with congenital heart disease
Adults with Congenital Heart Disease (CHD) are a new and growing population of patients who pose a challenge to both medicine and nursing. Medical and surgical advances have increased the number of adults with CHD. These ... -
A celebration of family: Family actions supporting task achievement in elementary school-age children with cystic fibrosis
Although society is facing a new challenge of supporting an increasing prevalence of children with chronic illnesses, families always have known the joys and hardships of care. The literature (Cystic Fibrosis Foundation, ... -
An exploration of the parental and spousal experiences of fathers/husbands in families of children with chronic illness
The purpose of this study was to investigate the parental and spousal experience of fathers in families of children with chronic illness and to compare this to the experience of fathers of healthy children. Four research ... -
A comparison of mother-child interaction between adolescent and adult mothers of preschoolers
Two main purposes of this study were: (a) to compare the mother-child interactions between adolescent and adult mothers; and (b) to examine the changes of adolescent mothers' mother-child interactions over time. Forty-three ...
