University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill Graduate School
Doi
Abstract
Transition readiness is defined as the subjective or objective readiness for health care transition (i.e., transfer from pediatric to adult health care) in adolescents with chronic conditions. Anxiety has been linked to poor transition readiness, and adaptive coping strategies have been shown to effectively reduce anxiety in adolescents with chronic conditions. However, no study to date has explored the relationship between the three variables. The present study investigated the relationship between coping strategies, anxiety, and transition readiness in a sample of 185 adolescents (age 13.03 ± 2.02 years, 48.3% male) with various chronic conditions and their parents recruited from 2018 Victory Junction Camp. Campers and parents completed the child and parent versions of Kidcope, PROMIS anxiety subscale, and STARx through Qualtrics survey, respectively. Results showed that use of coping strategies was significantly correlated with transition readiness. Anxiety partially mediated the relationship between use of maladaptive coping strategies and self-reported transition readiness, but not the relationship between use of adaptive coping strategies and transition readiness. The use of coping strategies may be a direct influential factor for transition readiness, and anxiety may be more relevant to the relationship between use of maladaptive coping strategies and transition readiness. Implications for clinical rehabilitation and mental health counseling research and practice are discussed.Master of Scienc
