Strengths, challenges, and relational processes in families of children with congenital upper limb differences.

Congenital upper limb differences are physical health conditions in which an individual is born with abnormalities of the upper limbs (i.e., arms, hands, and/or fingers). This article presents a qualitative study about the unique strengths, challenges, and relationship processes in families of children with congenital upper limb differences. Four in-depth focus groups were conducted with parents of children with congenital upper limb differences. Content analysis procedures were used to analyze the data. The results indicated the following: (a) The strengths and resources of these families included a belief in the human universality of differences, connections with similar families, reliance on a strong social support network, and humor; (b) the challenges the families faced included managing grief-related emotions, making medical decisions, and promoting the child‘s development; and (c) family relationships were affected through the parents‘ expression of emotion, opportunities for closeness, and relationships with other family members, such as extended family and siblings.