Systematic Reviews
Copyright ©The Author(s) 2016. Published by Baishideng Publishing Group Inc. All rights reserved.
World J Clin Pediatr. May 8, 2016; 5(2): 206-211
Published online May 8, 2016. doi: 10.5409/wjcp.v5.i2.206
Systematic review of character development and childhood chronic illness
Gary R Maslow, Sherika N Hill
Gary R Maslow, Departments of Pediatrics, Duke University School of Medicine, Durham, NC 27710, United States
Gary R Maslow, Sherika N Hill, Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, Duke University School of Medicine, Durham, NC 27710, United States
Author contributions: Maslow GR and Hill SN contributed equally to this work; Maslow GR and Hill SN designed and performed the review; Maslow GR and Hill SN analyzed the literature and wrote the paper.
Conflict-of-interest statement: Dr. Maslow and Dr. Hill declare no conflict of interest regarding this manuscript: “Systematic review of character development and childhood chronic illness.
Data sharing statement: No additional data are available.
Open-Access: This article is an open-access article which was selected by an in-house editor and fully peer-reviewed by external reviewers. It is distributed in accordance with the Creative Commons Attribution Non Commercial (CC BY-NC 4.0) license, which permits others to distribute, remix, adapt, build upon this work non-commercially, and license their derivative works on different terms, provided the original work is properly cited and the use is non-commercial. See: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/
Correspondence to: Gary R Maslow, MD, MPH, Assistant Professor, Departments of Pediatrics, Duke University School of Medicine, DUMC 2906, Durham, NC 27710, United States. gary.maslow@duke.edu
Telephone: +1-919-7975363 Fax: +1-919-6684496
Received: August 28, 2015
Peer-review started: August 28, 2015
First decision: December 4, 2015
Revised: January 9, 2016
Accepted: January 29, 2016
Article in press: January 31, 2016
Published online: May 8, 2016
Abstract

AIM: To review empirical evidence on character development among youth with chronic illnesses.

METHODS: A systematic literature review was conducted using PubMed and PSYCHINFO from inception until November 2013 to find quantitative studies that measured character strengths among youth with chronic illnesses. Inclusion criteria were limited to English language studies examining constructs of character development among adolescents or young adults aged 13-24 years with a childhood-onset chronic medical condition. A librarian at Duke University Medical Center Library assisted with the development of the mesh search term. Two researchers independently reviewed relevant titles (n = 549), then abstracts (n = 45), and finally manuscripts (n = 3).

RESULTS: There is a lack of empirical research on character development and childhood-onset chronic medical conditions. Three studies were identified that used different measures of character based on moral themes. One study examined moral reasoning among deaf adolescents using Kohlberg’s Moral Judgement Instrument; another, investigated moral values of adolescent cancer survivors with the Values In Action Classification of Strengths. A third study evaluated moral behavior among young adult survivors of burn injury utilizing the Tennessee Self-Concept, 2nd edition. The studies observed that youth with chronic conditions reasoned at less advanced stages and had a lower moral self-concept compared to referent populations, but that they did differ on character virtues and strengths when matched with healthy peers for age, sex, and race/ethnicity. Yet, generalizations could not be drawn regarding character development of youth with chronic medical conditions because the studies were too divergent from each other and biased from study design limitations.

CONCLUSION: Future empirical studies should learn from the strengths and weaknesses of the existing literature on character development among youth with chronic medical conditions.

Keywords: Positive youth development, Character development, Adolescents, Chronic illness, Childhood

Core tip: This study reviewed empirical evidence on character development among youth with chronic medical conditions. Only three quantitative studies were found that met the review inclusion criteria. Different measures of character were evaluated including moral reasoning, moral concept, and character virtues. Collectively, the findings were not generalizable and were too divergent to support or contradict each other. The strengths and weaknesses of the emerging literature offer insights into how best to design future studies on character development among youth with chronic illnesses.