Table I.
Communication in Families With a Child With a Chronic Illness Compared With Families of Healthy Children: Previous Findings for Positive, Warm, Structured, Negative, Hostile/Intrusive, and Withdrawn Patterns
| Study | Illness | Age | N | Observation task(s) | Coding system | Code and unit of analysis | Macro/ Micro | Effect | Finding |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Positive communication (warm and structured) | |||||||||
| Carlson, Gesten, McIver, DeClue, & Malone et al., 1994 | T1D | 8–12 years | 20 per group | 3 problem-solving tasks: plan a weekend, discuss a problem identified by the family, diabetes-specific problem | Communication Coding System (COM; Carlson et al., 1994) | Family positive statements | Micro | − | Diabetes group significantly higher than TD group: F(1,38) = 4.18, p < .05 |
| Chavez & Buriel, 1988 | Epilepsy | 4–10 years | 29 epilepsy 24 healthy controls | Structured bean bag toss | McClintock & Moore (1981) coding system | Maternal positive responses | Micro | + | Epilepsy group significantly lower than TD group: F(2, 71) = 4.88, p < .01; post hoc test significant at p < .05 |
| Holmbeck Coakley, Hommeyer, Shapera, & Westhoven, 2002 | SB | 8–9 years | 68 per group | 3: unfamiliar board game, conflict task, structured family interaction task | Johnson & Holmbeck (1995) global coding system | Family cohesion | Macro | + | SB group significantly lower than TD group: F(1, 128) = 4.28, p < .05 |
| Janicke, Mitchell, , & Stark, 2005 | CF | 5–12 years | 28 per group | Family mealtime | MICS (Dickstein et al., 1994) | Family communication | Macro | + | CF group significantly lower than TD group: F(1, 54) = 13.86, p < .001 |
| Mitchell , Powers, Byars, Dickstein, & Stark, 2004 | CF | 7–35 months | 29 per group | Family mealtime | MICS (Dickstein et al., 1994) | Family communication | Macro | + | CF group significantly lower than TD group: F(1,64) = 4.06, p < .05 (ES d = 0.83) |
| Piazza-Wagoner et al., 2008 | T1D | 2–8 years | 33 per group | Family mealtime | MICS (Dickstein et al., 1994) | Family communication | Macro | + | T1D group significantly lower than TD group: t(64) = -2.0, p < .001 |
| Siniatchkin et al., 2003 | Asthma | M = 11 years(range un-known) | 20 per group | Puzzle task | Munich Training Model (MTM; Innerhofer, 1977) | Parent positive reinforcement | Micro | × | No significant difference between groups: (no other information provided) |
| Spieth et al., 2001 | CF | 2–6 years | 29 per group | Family mealtime | Mealtime Interaction Coding System (MICS; Dickstein et al., 1994) | Family communication | Macro | + | CF group significantly lower than TD group: F(1,56) = 10.26, p = .002 |
| Warm communication | |||||||||
| Janicke et al., 2005 | CF | 5–12 years | 28 per group | Family mealtime | MICS (Dickstein et al., 1994) | Family interpersonal involvement | Macro | + | CF group significantly lower than TD group: F(1, 54) = 15.96, p < .001 |
| Lennon , Murray, Bechtel, & Holmbeck, 2015 | SB | 5 Time Points (T1: 8–9 years; T5: 16–17 years) | 68 SB and 68 healthy controls (at T1) | 3: unfamiliar board game, conflict task, structured family interaction task | Johnson & Holmbeck (1995) global coding system | Parental acceptance | Macro | × | No significant difference between groups: (no other information provided) |
| Mitchell et al., 2004 | CF | 7–35 months | 29 per group | Family mealtime | MICS (Dickstein et al., 1994) | Family interpersonal involvement | Macro | + | CF group significantly lower than TD group: F(1,64) = 6.97, p = .01 (ES d = 0.81) |
| Piazza-Waggoner et al., 2008 | T1D | 2–8 years | 33 per group | Family mealtime | MICS (Dickstein et al., 1994) | Family interpersonal involvement | Macro | × | No significant difference between groups: (no other information provided) |
| Spieth et al., 2001 | CF | 2–6 years | 29 per group | Family mealtime | MICS (Dickstein et al., 1994) | Family interpersonal involvement | Macro | + | CF group significantly lower than TD group: F(1,56) = 16.56, p = .002 |
| Structured communication | |||||||||
| Chavez & Buriel, 1988 | Epilepsy | 4–10 years | 29 epilepsy 24 healthy controls | Structured bean bag toss | McClintock & Moore (1981) coding system | Maternal verbal directives | Micro | + | Epilepsy group significantly lower than TD group: F(2,71) = 4.86, p < .01 |
| Lennon et al., 2015 | SB | 5 Time Points (T1: 8–9 years; T5: 16–17 years) | 68 SB and 68 healthy controls (at T1) | 3: unfamiliar board game, conflict task, structured family interaction task | Johnson & Holmbeck (1995) global coding system | Mother and father behavioral control | Macro | -,× | SB group significantly higher than TD group on maternal but not paternal behavioral control at T3 (10–13 yrs), T4 (14–15 yrs, and T5 (16–17 yrs): F's = 7.12, 7.10, and 8.34 (respectively), p's < .05 |
| Negative communication (hostile/intrusive or withdrawn) | |||||||||
| Carlson et al., 1994 | T1D | 8–12 years | 20 per group | 3 Problem solving tasks: plan a weekend, discuss a family problem, diabetes specific problem | COM (Carlson et al., 1994) | Family negative statements | Micro | × | No significant difference between groups: (no other information) |
| Chavez & Buriel, 1988 | Epilepsy | 4–10 years | 29 epilepsy 24 healthy controls | Structured bean bag toss | McClintock & Moore (1981) coding system | Maternal negative responses | Micro | + | Epilepsy group significantly higher than TD group: F(2, 71) = 7.69, p < .01 |
| Siniatchkin et al., 2003 | Asthma | M = 11 Years (range unknown) | 20 per group | Puzzle task | MTM (Innerhofer, 1977) | Parent Blocking | Micro | + | Asthma group significantly higher than TD group: (statistics not reported; χ2 < .05) |
| Hostile/intrusive communication | |||||||||
| Hermanns, Florin, Dietrich, Rieger, & Hahlweg, 1989 | Asthma | 7–13 years | 25 asthma 25 healthy | Problem discussion and resolution | KPI Interaction Coding System (Hahlweg et al., 1984) | Maternal criticism | Micro | + | Asthma group significantly higher than TD group: t(37) = 2.61, p < .05 |
| Lennon et al., 2015 | SB | 5 Time Points (T1: 8–9 years; T5: 16–17 years) | 68 SB and 68 healthy controls (at T1, ages 8–9) | 3: unfamiliar board game, conflict task, structured family interaction task | Johnson & Holmbeck (1995) global coding system | Mother and father Psychological control | Macro | +,× | SB group significantly higher than TD group on maternal but not paternal psychological control at T1 (8–9 years): F(3, 127) = 3.39, p < .05 |
| Schöbinger, Florin, Zimmer, Lindemann, & Winter, 1992 | Asthma | 6–13 years | 24 asthma 22 healthy | Problem discussion and resolution | KPI Interaction Coding System (Hahlweg et al., 1984) | Paternal criticism | Macro | + | Asthma group significantly higher than TD group: F(1,44) = 33.68, p < 0.001 (ES d = 1.72) |
| Schöbinger, Florin, Reichbauer, Lindemann, & Zimmer, 1993 | Asthma | 6–13 years | 24 asthma 23 healthy | Problem discussion and resolution | KPI Interaction Coding System (Hahlweg et al., 1984) | Maternal criticism | Micro | + | Asthma group significantly higher than TD group: F(1,44) = 17.0, p < .0001 (ES d = 1.39) |
| Tuminello, Holmbeck, & Olson, 2012 | SB | 14–15 years | 61 SB, 65 control | 2: unfamiliar board game and conflict task | Johnson & Holmbeck (1995) global coding system | Mother and father intrusiveness | Macro | +,+ | SB group significantly higher than TD group on maternal and paternal intrusiveness: t(105) = 4.21, p < .001; t(71) = 3.20, p = .00 |
| Withdrawn communication | |||||||||
| Lennon et al., 2015 | SB | 5 Time Points (T1: 8–9 years; T5: 16–17 yrs) | 68 SB and 68 healthy controls (at T1) | 3: unfamiliar board game, conflict task, structured family interaction task | Johnson & Holmbeck (1995) global coding system | Child positive engagement (reverse) | Macro | + | SB group significantly lower child engagement than TD group at every time point: F's ranged 40.98–4.60, p's < .05 |
| Seiffge-Krenke, 2002 | T1D | 12–16 years | 58 T1D, 76 control | Plan a fictitious 3-week vacation together | Condon, Cooper, & Grotevant (1983) coding system | Father contributions (reverse) | Micro | + | T1D group significantly lower father involvement than TD group: F's ranged 1.88–3.71, p's < .05 |
Note. SB = spina bifida; T1D = type 1 diabetes; TD = typically developing; ES = effect size in Cohen’s d.
Unit of analysis: Family = both parent and child contributions taken into account for scoring; Mother/Maternal = only mother’s contributions taken into account for scoring; Father/Paternal = only father’s contributions taken into account for scoring.
+Significant finding such that chronic illness group demonstrates lower positive or higher negative communication.
−Significant finding such that chronic illness group demonstrates higher positive or lower negative communication.
×No significant difference between groups.