Examined the effects of child age and gender, parent gender, and type of child illness on parents' responses to their children's illness behavior. Study 1 describes the development of the Illness Behavior Encouragement Scale, based on Whitehead et al.'s Social Learning Scales for adults, and provides evidence supporting symptom specificity in children's learning of illness behavior. Results of Study 2 indicate that mothers encourage children's illness behavior more than fathers, that parents encourage children to adopt the sick role for gastrointestinal symptoms more than for cold symptoms, and that girls perceive parents as encouraging their illness behavior more than boys, that is, girls report receiving more sympathy and being allowed more relief from responsibility during illness episodes than boys.