Health, Illness and Behavior in Children and Adolescents

Important research on interactions between behavior and health or illness during childhood is emerging. This includes new information on how behavior affects health status or illness expressions and how changes in health status, illness, and health care affect behavior. To date, there has been relatively little effort made to focus this work on the childhood developmental period in terms of both interdisciplinary and international perspectives. This special issue will stimulate new...
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Important research on interactions between behavior and health or illness during childhood is emerging. This includes new information on how behavior affects health status or illness expressions and how changes in health status, illness, and health care affect behavior. To date, there has been relatively little effort made to focus this work on the childhood developmental period in terms of both interdisciplinary and international perspectives. This special issue will stimulate new research on children and adolescents by the scientists of many nations.

Two general topics dominate this issue: cardiovascular health issues and pain. The emphasis on cardiovascular health is not surprising given that cardiovascular disease is either the leading cause or a rapidly increasing cause of mortality in most industrialized countries, and that there is increased recognition that most risk factors--or their precursors--are present in childhood. Presumably, a better understanding of these factors can lead to better prevention of cardiovascular disease. To the extent that lifestyle changes are currently the leading behavioral approach to reducing the prevalence of coronary heart disease, such efforts should be most successful if initiated early in life.

Topic 2 discusses pain in children and adolescents and includes a multimethod investigation of pain perceptions and coping with pain following surgery, evaluation of a program to reduce pain related to sickle cell diseases, and an evaluation of treatment for headache in adolescents.

Also discussed in this issue is the topic: effects of a chronic illness on the adjustment, well-being, or quality of life of children and adolescents and their family members. This area has garnered a good deal of attention related to estimates that about 20% of all children and adolescents have a chronic illness.

Several general themes are also discussed. Among these are the assessment of interventions, inclusion of long-term longitudinal studies, prosepective longitudinal investigations of risk factors for cardiovascular disease extending 3 and 5 years, and a focus on assessment methods in behavioral medicine.