Human responses to chronic illness: physiologic and psychosocial adaptation

Abstract

To identify factors that promote adaptation, physiological and psychosocial responses to chronic illness were studied. The adaptation to chronic illness model (Pollock, 1984a) served as the theoretical framework for integrating the major variables of chronicity, stress, hardiness, and physiological and psychosocial adaptation. The sample (N = 60) consisted of three equal-sized groups of adults who had been diagnosed with diabetes mellitus, essential hypertension, or rheumatoid arthritis for at least one year. Data were collected from all subjects over a 9-month interval to determine their physiological and psychosocial adaptation and if they had the hardiness characteristic. The hypothesis, that presence of the hardiness characteristic was significantly correlated with physiological adaptation, was supported for the diabetic group but not for the hypertensive or rheumatoid arthritic groups. Physiological and psychosocial adaptation were found to be two independent domains in this study.