ELEMENTARY STUDENTS

Peer Relationships And Emotional Well-Being Of Elementary Students With Chronic Illnesses



Peer Relationships And Emotional Well-Being Of Elementary Students With Chronic Illnesses

Introduction

Peer relationships have been shown to be an important aspect of normal childhood development, which also affect the emotional well-being of the elementary children. Through these relationships, elementary children explore their self-identities and develop skills in forming and maintaining peer relationships. Not only are friendships important in terms of developing lifelong social skills, reciprocal friendships have been found to serve a protective function when the individual is confronted with difficulties. Reciprocal friendships have been found to act as a buffer in children who have negative family relationships, as well as provide protection against the negative effects of peer victimization. It has been found that positive dyadic friendship experiences protect against loneliness and depression in elementary school-aged children and are also helpful for the emotional well-being of the elementary children (Rubinm, Chen, et al., 2005).

Discussion

Difficulties with peer relationships have been acknowledged as one of the major social ramifications of chronic pain in elementary children. This is not surprising, given that chronic pain is an insidious condition that can negatively impact all aspects of an individual's life. Elementary children's with chronic pain have been found to experience self-imposed isolation due to the embarrassment of their pain disability. Additionally, it has been observed that elementary children's with chronic low back pain use self-isolation as a negative coping mechanism, which in turn also affects the emotional well-being of these children. Individuals with chronic pain withdraw from social contact with peers rather than attempt to conceal their discomfort in social situations. Once isolated, interacting with others becomes more difficult, leading some to view themselves as having no social value. Elementary children's with chronic pain may receive fewer social invitations as a result of their changing personality due to pain and because of other's discomfort about the amount of pain the person is experiencing while socializing. There is no evidence that the situation is any different for children with chronic pain (Rubinm, Chen, et al., 2005).

Qualitative research suggests that peer relationships are both a source of stress and support for elementary children who live with chronic pain, and the pain condition may interfere with their ability to maintain friendships. It was found using a focus group interview that the elementary children with chronic pain to describe daily coping needs related to pain. Results indicated that all participants had experienced negative peer relations in some manner since developing chronic pain (e.g. verbal assaults or loss of friendship), but the emotional support and companionship of their remaining friends was helpful in coping with their pain. A range of methods were used to examine friendships in elementary children with chronic pain and found that the majority of participants had experienced loss of friendships as a result of having chronic pain (Gil, Carson, et al., 2003). Participants made the distinction between 'sunny day friends' (i.e., friends who would come and go) and 'proper friends' ...