Introduction:

The adolescent who experiences a chronic illness process goes through a health-illness transition. It is known that the meanings attributed to the health condition have the potential to facilitate or inhibit these adaptive processes.

Objective:

This study aims to describe the meanings adolescents with chronic illness attribute to their health condition.

Methods:

It is a Systematic Literature Review with Meta-Synthesis according to the model of the Joanna Briggs® Institute. The syntheses of the findings were evaluated using the ConQual Score.

Results:

The results are presented in the form of two aggregated qualitative summaries: 1. The chronic condition is seen by the adolescent as an injustice that differentiates him from peers and contributes to isolation; 2. With time and with the help of friends, the teenager perceives benefits in his chronic health condition. It appears that as the adolescent has a greater perception of the condition of having a disease, he experiences negative feelings. On the other hand, disease support technology is seen as positive.

Conclusion:

We conclude that it is important to assist the adolescent in redefining negative meanings and enhancing the feeling of autonomy, reducing social isolation, and allowing the use of equipment/technologies to support limitations.

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