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Journal of Pediatric Psychology, Vol. 25, No. 3, 2000, pp. 125-135
© 2000 Society of Pediatric Psychology

Special Section: Peer Relationships

Children's Perceptions of Peers With Somatic Symptoms: The Impact of Gender, Stress, and Illness

Jessica W. Guite, MS, Lynn S. Walker, PhD, Craig A. Smith, PhD and Judy Garber, PhD

Vanderbilt University

All correspondence should be sent to Jessica Guite, Department of Psychology and Human Development, Box 512 GPC, Vanderbilt University, Nashville, Tennessee 37203. E-mail: Jessica.W.Guite{at}Vanderbilt.edu .

Objective: To investigate how illness characteristics influence children's responses to ill peers.

Methods: A sample of 363 4th and 5th graders responded to a vignette describing a peer with abdominal pain. In a 2 x 2 x 2 x 2 design, conditions varied by (a) evidence for organic disease, (b) presence of stress, (c) sex of vignette character, and (d) sex of respondent. Children rated symptom severity, liking for the peer, and whether the peer should be excused from normal responsibilities.

Results: Same sex preferences significantly influenced children's liking for a peer. Children viewed symptoms with an organic etiology as more severe than those without one. Under certain conditions, symptom severity judgments mediated the relation between the presence of organic disease and (a) liking and (b) granting relief from responsibility. The presence of stress had little effect on ratings of symptom severity, liking, or relief from responsibility.

Conclusions: Gender and evidence of organic disease influence children's perceptions of and responses to symptomatic peers.

Key words: children; peers; symptoms; gender; stress; recurrent abdominal pain.


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