Abstract
This study investigated the development of children's concepts of illness. A total of 310 children (74 with renal disease, 82 with asthma, and 154 with no special health problems), aged 8 to 12 years, were examined by the method of free recall. Children were asked to write the names of illnesses as many as possible. A comparison across age groups showed that a developmental change in concepts of illness occurred at about 11 years of age. Although the expansion of illness concepts and the developmental tendency were similar, the inner structure of illness concepts was different in the children with chronic illnesses and in those with no special health problems. Because, like other concepts, illness concepts are multi-dimensional, their differences would not be developmental differences.
