Home caregivers and children on apnea monitors.

Despite the accepted at-risk status of children discharged home on mechanical assistive devices, few assessments have been done of the influence of caregiuer and family interactions on the developmental status of these children. The data reported below were collected retrospectively in a pilot study of 25 mother/child pairs who were discharged home with apnea monitors. Although the sample size is small, the findings are of some interest because of the pattern of correlations among variables and a path analytic model that emphasizes the interactive effects of social support, help-seeking coping activities reported by mothers, and the developmental outcomes of children. The results suggest that lack of family cohesion and low self-esteem of the mother may severely impair help-seeking behavior and that positive mother-child interactions, which favorably influence developmental outcomes, are influenced by the