Theoretical perspective: resilience in medically fragile adolescents.

Medically fragile adolescents require medical technology and skilled care from parents and nurses in daily life. These adolescents may be ventilator dependent, require intravenous nutrition or medications, depend on nutritional or respiratory support, and depend on nursing care or other medical devices for daily living. Much of the extant research on medically fragile children and adolescents has lacked an overarching theoretical perspective. Findings suggest that peer relationships, family support, technology dependence, school attendance, and self-esteem are concepts of relevance for these adolescents. Thus, a theoretical framework derived from the risk and resilience literature was developed to identify the nature of their interrelationships using theory derivation techniques. The resilience in medically fragile adolescents framework was derived using concepts described by these adolescents. Further study is needed to test this model in medically fragile adolescents with hopes to foster positive outcomes for these adolescents.