BACKGROUND: Inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) is a group of conditions characterized by chronic inflammation of the gastrointestinal (GI) tract. A new diagnosis of IBD in children and adolescents can have significant psychosocial effects on both the patient and the family. Child and parental coping strategies play a crucial role in the adjustment to IBD, especially within the first year of the diagnosis.
AIMS: The primary aim of the study was to assess the stability of coping measures over time in children and parents following a new pediatric IBD diagnosis. The study also aimed to assess the impact of parental coping on parental healthcare resource utilization for children with newly diagnosed IBD, as well as the impact of parental coping on anxiety, depression, and quality of life in children with newly diagnosed IBD.
METHODS: This was a prospective, longitudinal cohort study at Boston Children’s Hospital (BCH) that focused on children and adolescents with newly diagnosed IBD, as well as their parents. Patients and their parents were approached at the time they enrolled in the study and then again about 12 months later as part of a one-year follow-up. At both time points, they were asked to fill out various questionnaires about psychological functioning and answer other questions about medical care.
RESULTS: The study identified and encountered 465 IBD patients, of which 126 were eligible for recruitment. There were 70 patients and families who signed a consent form for enrollment, 55 who fully or partially completed the questionnaires at baseline, and only 5 who also completed the questionnaires at follow-up. Due to the limited number of participants who completed the questionnaires at follow-up, no definitive conclusions could be drawn about the stability of coping measures over time. Parental anxiety, parental depression, frequent parental stress, and difficult parental stress were all found to be positively correlated with healthcare utilization and negatively correlated with the child’s quality of life. Parental anxiety, frequent parental stress, and difficult parental stress were all found to be positively correlated with the child’s anxiety. Parental depression, frequent parental stress, and difficult parental stress were all found to be positively correlated with the child’s depression.
CONCLUSION: Preliminary findings suggest that poor parental coping leads to decreased child quality of life and increased healthcare utilization, child anxiety, and child depression. A larger sample size is needed to accurately evaluate the stability of coping measures over time. The next steps for this study involve further examination of the impact of parental coping and enrollment of more patients and families.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:bu.edu/oai:open.bu.edu:2144/36301 |
| Date | 11 June 2019 |
| Creators | Collins, Derek Alexander |
| Contributors | Spencer, Jean L. |
| Source Sets | Boston University |
| Language | en_US |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Thesis/Dissertation |
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