| Currently, an estimated 9% of children in the United States have a food allergy (Gupta et al., 2017). African American and Asian children are more likely to have food allergies compared to Caucasians, but they are less likely to be formally diagnosed (Branum & Lukacs, 2012; Greenhawt et al., 2013; Gupta et al., 2011). This study was conducted to examine the coping strategies of African American parents of children with a food allergy when faced with an allergic reaction. A quantitative descriptive research method was used to test Roy's middle-range theory concepts of coping and adaptation processing. Thirty-five participants were recruited for the study, and the instruments used were the Coping Adaptation and Processing Scale (CAPS) and a demographic survey. Data analysis found African American parents used effective coping and adaptation strategies; younger parents (aged 18--35 years) coped more effectively and reported receiving more "highly effective" teaching-learning strategies than older parents (aged 36--51+ years) at the time of diagnosis. The more life-threatening the food allergy became, the less parents used Factor 5 Knowing and Relating. As the number of food allergies increased, the less parents used Factor 4 Systematic Processing and as the level of education increased, the less parents used Factor 2 Physical and Fixed. Implications for nursing include a greater need to identify coping and adaptation strategies of African American parents of children with food allergies, promote effective coping strategies in parents identified with ineffective coping strategies, and immediately assess and address the influence of demographics on coping strategies. |
