Family functioning influences childrens’ adjustment to
chronic illness resulting in either well-being (McClellan &
Cohen, 2007) or suffering. One study found that 13–36% of
families with chronic illness had unhealthy levels of family
functioning (Herzer, 2010). However, family functioning in
Thai families of children with thalassemia was found to be no
different from other families with similar characteristics
(Thanarattanakorn et al., 2003).