Display options
Cite
Wauters A, Vervoort T, Dhondt K, et al. Mental Health Outcomes Among Parents of Children With a Chronic Disease During the COVID-19 Pandemic: The Role of Parental Burn-Out. J Pediatr Psychol. 2021;doi: 10.1093/jpepsy/jsab129.
Wauters, A., Vervoort, T., Dhondt, K., Soenens, B., Vansteenkiste, M., Morbée, S., Waterschoot, J., Haerynck, F., Vandekerckhove, K., Verhelst, H., Van Aken, S., Raes, A., Schelstraete, P., Walle, J. V., & Van Hoecke, E. (2021). Mental Health Outcomes Among Parents of Children With a Chronic Disease During the COVID-19 Pandemic: The Role of Parental Burn-Out. Journal of pediatric psychology, . https://doi.org/10.1093/jpepsy/jsab129
Wauters, Aline, et al. "Mental Health Outcomes Among Parents of Children With a Chronic Disease During the COVID-19 Pandemic: The Role of Parental Burn-Out." Journal of pediatric psychology vol. (2021). doi: https://doi.org/10.1093/jpepsy/jsab129
Wauters A, Vervoort T, Dhondt K, Soenens B, Vansteenkiste M, Morbée S, Waterschoot J, Haerynck F, Vandekerckhove K, Verhelst H, Van Aken S, Raes A, Schelstraete P, Walle JV, Van Hoecke E. Mental Health Outcomes Among Parents of Children With a Chronic Disease During the COVID-19 Pandemic: The Role of Parental Burn-Out. J Pediatr Psychol. 2021 Dec 16; doi: 10.1093/jpepsy/jsab129. Epub 2021 Dec 16. PMID: 34915562; PMCID: PMC8754736.
Copy Download .nbib Format: NLM
Share it on

J Pediatr Psychol. 2021 Dec 16; doi: 10.1093/jpepsy/jsab129. Epub 2021 Dec 16.

Mental Health Outcomes Among Parents of Children With a Chronic Disease During the COVID-19 Pandemic: The Role of Parental Burn-Out.

Journal of pediatric psychology

Aline Wauters, Tine Vervoort, Karlien Dhondt, Bart Soenens, Maarten Vansteenkiste, Sofie Morbée, Joachim Waterschoot, Filomeen Haerynck, Kristof Vandekerckhove, Helene Verhelst, Sara Van Aken, Ann Raes, Petra Schelstraete, Johan Vande Walle, Eline Van Hoecke

Affiliations

  1. Department of Experimental-Clinical and Health Psychology, Ghent University, Ghent, Belgium.
  2. Department of Child & Adolescent Psychiatry, Ghent University Hospital, Ghent, Belgium.
  3. Department of Developmental, Personality, and Social Psychology, Ghent University, Ghent, Belgium.
  4. Department of Pediatrics, Ghent University Hospital, Ghent, Belgium.
  5. Utoped, ERKnet, Ghent University Hospital, Ghent, Belgium.
  6. Pediatric Psychology, Department of Pediatrics, Ghent University Hospital, Ghent, Belgium.

PMID: 34915562 PMCID: PMC8754736 DOI: 10.1093/jpepsy/jsab129

Abstract

OBJECTIVE: The COVID-19 pandemic and associated quarantine measures highly impacted parental psychological well-being. Parents of children with chronic diseases might be specifically vulnerable as they already face multiple challenges to provide adequate care for their child. The research questions of the current study were twofold: (a) to examine whether parents of children with a chronic disease experienced more anxiety and depression compared to parents of healthy children and (b) to examine a series of risk factors for worsened well-being (i.e., depression, anxiety, and sleep problems), such as sociodemographic variables, COVID-19-specific variables (i.e., financial worries, living space, and perceived quality of health care), and parental psychological experiences (i.e., parental burn-out and less positive parenting experiences).

METHODS: Parents of children with a chronic disease (i.e., the clinical sample; N = 599 and 507 for Research Questions 1 and 2, respectively) and parents of healthy children (i.e., the reference sample: N = 417) filled out an online survey.

RESULTS: Findings demonstrated that the parents in the clinical sample reported higher levels of anxiety than parents in the reference sample. Analyses within the clinical sample indicated that COVID-19-specific stressors and parental psychological experiences were associated with higher levels of anxiety, depression, and sleep problems. Mediation analyses furthermore indicated that the association of COVID-19-specific stressors with all outcome measures was mediated by parental burn-out.

CONCLUSIONS: Parents of children with a chronic disease constitute a vulnerable group for worse well-being during the current pandemic. Findings suggest interventions directly targeting parental burn-out are warranted.

© The Author(s) 2021. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the Society of Pediatric Psychology. All rights reserved. For permissions, please e-mail: [email protected].

Keywords: COVID-19; children with a chronic disease; parental burn-out; parental well-being; parents; positive parenting experiences

References

  1. Pediatr Blood Cancer. 2021 Feb;68(2):e28790 - PubMed
  2. Front Psychol. 2018 Jun 06;9:758 - PubMed
  3. J Fam Violence. 2020 Jun 23;:1-7 - PubMed
  4. J Fam Psychol. 2021 Dec;35(8):1053-1064 - PubMed
  5. Child Psychiatry Hum Dev. 2020 Oct;51(5):671-682 - PubMed
  6. New Dir Child Adolesc Dev. 2020 Nov;2020(174):7-13 - PubMed
  7. Qual Life Res. 2014 Aug;23(6):1733-41 - PubMed
  8. Qual Life Res. 2006 Sep;15(7):1121-31 - PubMed
  9. Fam Process. 2020 Sep;59(3):1060-1079 - PubMed
  10. Sleep Med. 2001 Jul;2(4):297-307 - PubMed
  11. Eval Health Prof. 2017 Mar;40(1):79-105 - PubMed
  12. Am Psychol. 2020 Jul-Aug;75(5):631-643 - PubMed
  13. Int J Environ Res Public Health. 2020 Dec 28;18(1): - PubMed
  14. Acta Paediatr. 2011 Jul;100(7):1011-7 - PubMed
  15. Psychol Bull. 2013 Nov;139(6):1342-96 - PubMed
  16. Child Dev. 2021 Sep;92(5):1679-1697 - PubMed
  17. PLoS One. 2019 Jan 4;14(1):e0210111 - PubMed
  18. Front Psychol. 2017 Feb 09;8:163 - PubMed
  19. Child Abuse Negl. 2020 Dec;110(Pt 2):104699 - PubMed
  20. Psychol Methods. 2007 Mar;12(1):23-44 - PubMed
  21. Parent Sci Pract. 2016 Apr 2;16(2):87-107 - PubMed
  22. Epilepsia. 2016 Apr;57(4):529-37 - PubMed
  23. Psychother Psychosom. 2020;89(5):330-332 - PubMed
  24. J Clin Epidemiol. 2010 Nov;63(11):1179-94 - PubMed
  25. PLoS One. 2014 Jul 24;9(7):e103340 - PubMed
  26. J Pediatr Psychol. 2020 Nov 1;45(10):1114-1123 - PubMed
  27. PLoS One. 2020 Oct 16;15(10):e0240962 - PubMed
  28. Psychol Health. 2021 Dec;36(12):1480-1496 - PubMed

Publication Types

Grant support