Genitori nella complessità: resilienza e benessere nelle allergie alimentari gravi

The food allergies are a very common illness; their incidence is increasing at around 8% of the pediatric population (Branum and Lukacs, 2009; Sicherer, 2011). The food allergies have a strong impact on the quality of life of patients and their families. The recent literature has extensively documented the impact of illness’ management; it feeds and makes chronic the feelings of uncertainty (Kemp and Hu, 2008) and insecurity (Marklund et al., 2007), the symptoms of stress and anxiety (Teufel et al., 2007), the severe limitations of daily activity (Bollinger et al ., 2006) and the social isolation (Munoz-Furlong, 2003). The psychological experience of patients and families is affected by the knowledge that, to date, the food allergy is a chronic illness; there is no cure and the dietary avoidance is the only recognized treatment. Unfortunately it does not defend the patient from the accidental ingestion, forcing him and his family to a state of constant alert. Many researches have turned their attention to the psychosocial issues related to food allergies, focusing in particular on reducing the quality of life. However, consistently with the salutogenic approach proposed by Antonovsky (1979, 1987), there is a lack of studies on the psychological dimensions that can provide support for effective adaptation to the illness. In this complexity the resilience resources of the parents may represent the crucial dimensions to face the challenges of the child’s illness. Consistently with what has been described, the main objective of this research is to explore the theme of complex parenthood in the severe food allergies; in particular, it has sought to clarify the role that the resilience resources play in promoting quality of life and well-being of parents of children suffering from this illness who are undergoing an experimental therapy: the oral desensitization (SOTI). To evaluate the efficacy of SOTI in improving the quality of life of both patients and parents and to understand the role of resilience resources during the therapy was implemented a follow-up step. To understand any specific elements of the experience connected with severe food allergies this group was compared with another group of parents facing a situation of complex parenthood caused by the diagnosis of autism spectrum syndrome son and a group of parents living the experience of normative parenthood. The applied nature of this work is highlighted by the interventions reported that integrate the research part.