Psychological concomitants of cystic fibrosis in children and adolescents

Thirty cystic fibrosis (CF) and 30 matched control children and their parents were administered several psychiatric inventories including the child (DICA) and parent (DICA-P) versions of the Diagnostic Interview for Children and Adolescents, the Child Behavior Check List, the Hopelessness Scale, and the Piers-Harris Children's Self-Concept Scale. Data analysis revealed few differences in either psychopathological symptoms or psychiatric diagnoses between the CF and control children. The differences which did emerge were either physical in nature (reflecting somatic complaints) or did not depart enough from normal scores to merit the label of high psychopathology. The results are discussed in terms of the growing evidence that CF children do not suffer from greater psychopathology than do normal children.