Family functioning and juvenile chronic physical illness in Northern Russia

Family management of childhood chronic conditions: Does it make a difference if the child has an intellectual disability?

The purpose of this analysis was to assess the applicability of the Family Management Measure (FaMM) to families in which there was a child with an intellectual disability versus a chronic condition. Drawing on data from 571 parents of children with a chronic physical condition and 539 parents of children with Down syndrome, we compared the two groups across the six FaMM scales. After accounting for the covariate effects of race, ethnicity, family income, and child age, we found significant differences in four of the six FaMM scales, with parents of children with Down syndrome reporting a significantly more positive view on the Condition Management Effort and View of Condition Impact scales and a significantly less positive view on the Child's Daily Life and Condition Management Ability scales than parents of children with a chronic physical condition. There were no significant differences between groups on the Family Life Difficulty and the Parental Mutuality scales. The analysis provided evidence of the applicability of the FaMM for studying families in which there is a child with Down syndrome and its utility in identifying the common and unique challenges of family management between the groups.

Psychometric properties of the Family Resilience Assessment Scale: A Singaporean perspective

Families of young people with chronic illnesses are more likely to experience higher levels of stress. In turn, their ability to cope with multiple demands is likely to affect young people's adaptation. The purpose of this study was to examine psychometric properties of the Family Resilience Assessment Scale (FRAS), an assessment tool that measures the construct of family resilience. A total of 152 young people with epilepsy, aged 13 to 16years old, from KK Women's and Children's Hospital, Singapore, completed the FRAS along with the Rosenberg Self-Esteem Scale. Factor structure of the FRAS was examined. Exploratory factor analysis resulted in a 7-factor solution - meaning-making and positive outlook, transcendence and spirituality, flexibility and connectedness, social and economic resources (community), social and economic resources (neighbors), clarity and open emotional expression, and collaborative problem-solving - accounting for 83.0% of the variance. Internal consistency of the scale was high (α=0.92). Family resilience was significantly correlated with higher levels of self-esteem. Our study provides preliminary findings that suggest that FRAS is a reliable and valid scale for assessing the construct of family resilience among young people with epilepsy in Singapore.

Testing the Applicability of the Family Management Style Framework to Chinese Families

Family management is an important concept in caring for chronically ill children. The purpose of this study is to determine the applicability of the Family Management Style Framework for Chinese families with a child who has a chronic condition. The children ranged in age from 6 to 16 years. The structural equation modeling approach was utilized to examine the relationships among the contextual variables, the family management, the child, and the family functioning. A total of 538 caregivers from seven hospitals in China were included in this study. The final model adequately fitted the data. The predictor variables accounted for 23%, 26%, 7.8%, and 12% of the variance in the easy and the challenging parts of family management and the child and family unit, respectively. These findings indicated that the framework is applicable to Chinese families. This result reinforces the importance of interventions designed to enable caregivers to improve family management.

Parenting characteristics of female caregivers of children affected by chronic endocrine conditions: a comparison between disorders of sex development and type 1 diabetes mellitus

Rearing a child with a chronic illness is stressful and can potentially affect parenting style, which may result in poorer outcomes for children. The purpose of this study was to compare parenting characteristics of female caregivers rearing children with a disorder of sex development (DSD) to female caregivers rearing children with type 1 diabetes mellitus (T1DM). Caregivers of both groups were matched according to age and compared on measures of stress and parenting practices. Both groups demonstrated significant levels of stress and negative parenting practices. Children with T1DM and male children with non-life-threatening DSD were perceived as more vulnerable by their caregivers. Better understanding of parenting experiences of female caregivers rearing children with DSD, particularly male children, will facilitate the development of individualized interventions to ameliorate negative parenting practices and stress, with the long-term goal of improved health outcomes for their children.