This study aimed to understand the meaning of the experience of families having a child experiencing pain due to Juvenile Rheumatoid Arthritis and to construct a theoretical model representing this experience. Grounded Theory and Symbolic Interactionism were used as methodological framework and theoretical framework, respectively. Data were collected by semistructured interviews with 12 families. Data analysis allowed for the construction of the theoretical model Caring for the child to grow despite the pain, which describes an experience based on motivational elements: wanting to see the child without pain and wanting to see the child live a normal life, reviewing how the family lives the transition in its development cycles, retaking and integrating them in the family dynamic with the appearance of the disease and pain in the child. This theoretical model provides a framework for teaching, research and care, permitting advances in terms of theoretical nursing knowledge.
family; child; arthritis, juvenile rheumatoid; pain
