Cognitive-behavioral therapy for children with comorbid physical illness

Abstract

In addition to the usual developmental challenges, children and adolescents with chronic physical illness face psychosocial challenges that affect their quality of life. This review describes different aspects of coping with chronic physical illness in childhood and the empirical evidence examining the usefulness of cognitive-behavioral therapy (CBT) for the treatment of children and adolescents with chronic physical illnesses and related psychological comorbidities. Four diseases (diabetes, inflammatory bowel disease, cancer, and sickle cell disease) were chosen as model illnesses to demonstrate key CBT findings in more detail. Future research recommendations in this challenging population are also addressed.