The effect of perceived social support of children with a chronic disease on their school success

This cross-sectional and descriptive study was carried out to assess the effect of the social support perceived by students with chronic diseases on their success in school. The study population was composed of 597 children who were hospitalized in Turgut Özal Medical Center's Grown Children Service, who had been diagnosed with a chronic disease at least 3 months ago, who were in the 10-16 age group and who were attending their schools; and the sample of the study comprised of 234 students, who were chosen from the population based on the simple random sampling technique. The study data were collected by the investigator between August 2012 and March 2013 using a Patient Descriptive Information Form and the Perceived Social Support Scale. Percentage distributions, t-test, ANOVA, Kruskal-Wallis, Mann-Whitney U and chi-square significance tests were used to analyze the data. With respect to the troubles experienced due to their diseases, 49.6% of the children who took part in the study received support from their mothers, 66.2% of them fell behind their friends in lessons when they were hospitalized and 61.5% had their success in school affected because they could not study their lessons due to their disease-related problems. According to the data obtained, it was found that perceived social support influenced their success in school, the support received from the family was the most effective factor in their success (54.9±4.40) and this was followed by support from teachers (46.3±5.18) and support from friends (35.0±4.24). In conclusion, it was found that chronic diseases had a negative effect on children's success in school, whereas perceived social support had a positive effect. In view of these results, it can be recommended that the levels of social support and sources of social support should be identified in children with chronic diseases, nurses should provide information to the parents, teachers and friends of these children about children with chronic diseases and their experiences in school and school healthcare nursing should be activated in all schools. Key Words: Chronic disease, school achievement, social support, nursing, children