Research on distress and coping provides theoretical and practical information on treatment. Cognitive and behavioural coping with illness itself or a specific treatment affect adjustment in the hospital setting.1-4

Assessment of coping in children with serious and chronic illness is useful for a variety of reasons. Most paediatric patients are psychologically healthy and, therefore, traditional measures of psychopathology are inappropriate. In this and the accompanying paper,5 two instruments will be reviewed; both are designed for physically ill, but mentally healthy, children. Assessing distress and coping over time and in different situations will lead to hypotheses about distress and coping—hypotheses that can be tested in treatment or clinical research programmes. Encouraging clinicians to explore children's coping will improve the care of children, especially those with a long term illness.

In the past, many different self report measures were applied (Tobin et al, 1984, unpublished; Patterson and McCubbin, 1983, unpublished).6-8 It is suggested that widespread use of the same instrument would allow distress and coping data to be compared more convincingly. Systematic administration and uncomplicated, yet thorough, analyses would lead to establishing a solid research base from which the effects of coping could be explored. The strengths and weaknesses of different coping strategies could then be demonstrated.