Coping Strategies of Children and Adolescents with Clinically Diagnosed Short Stature

This paper focusses on coping strategies
employed by children and adolescents with diagnosed short
stature, assesses the impact of socio-demographic and
clinical characteristics on coping, examines the relation-
ship between coping and health related quality of life
(QoL) and investigates the role of coping strategies in
mediating the relationship between height and QoL. Cop-
ing with a disease (CODI) and quality of life in short
stature youth (QoLISSY–QoL) questionnaires were com-
pleted by 137 short-statured children and adolescents
between 8 and 18 years, participating in the crosssectional
European QoLISSY study. Clinical and socio-demographic
data were collected to examine differences in coping via
variance and regression analyses, associations between
CODI and QoLISSY were inspected using correlation and
mediation analyses. Most frequently employed coping
strategies in the CODI were ‘‘Acceptance’’ and ‘‘Wishful
Thinking’’, with ‘‘Emotional Reaction’’ used least. Signif-
icant effects of age, diagnosis and treatment status on
coping strategies were detected. CODI scales ‘‘Accep-
tance’’ and ‘‘Distance’’ were associated with higher
QoLISSY–QoL scores, ‘‘Emotional Reaction’’ and
‘‘Wishful Thinking’’ with lower scores. Coping strategies
predicted 60 % of the QoLISSY–QoL variance. Relation-
ships between height deviation and QoLISSY–QoL were
mediated by the coping strategies of ‘‘Wishful Thinking’’
and ‘‘Distance’’. Findings suggest that coping efforts vary
with socio-demographic and clinical characteristics, that
protective coping strategies in terms of QoL can be iden-
tified and that coping mediates the relationship between
short stature and QoL. Future longitudinal research should
focus on the adaptive function of coping in relation to QoL
over time.