Related Experiment Videos
Psychosocial adjustment in children with kidney disease
1Psychology and Human Development, Washington State University, Vancouver 98686, USA. soliday@vancouver.wsu.edu
Insights
Children with kidney disease function similarly to healthy peers, with family environment positively influencing behavior and stress. Specific parental concerns highlight the need for targeted interventions for this population.
Area of Science:
- Pediatric Nephrology
- Child Psychology
- Family Studies
Background:
- Children with chronic kidney diseases face unique challenges.
- Understanding the impact of illness on family dynamics is crucial.
- Parenting stress and child behavior require careful assessment in pediatric populations.
Purpose of the Study:
- Compare family environment, parenting stress, and child behavior in children with kidney disease versus healthy controls.
- Identify predictors of psychological distress in children with kidney disease.
- Explore specific stressors and intervention needs for families of children with kidney disease.
Main Methods:
- Compared parents of children with nephrotic syndrome, chronic renal insufficiency, or kidney transplant (n=41) to healthy children (n=34).
- Assessed family functioning, parenting stress, and child behavior.
- Utilized qualitative responses to understand specific stressors.
Main Results:
- Mean scores for family functioning, parenting stress, and child behavior were within normal ranges for all groups.
- Family environment variables significantly predicted child behavior and parenting stress.
- Qualitative data revealed illness-specific stressors and intervention needs.
Conclusions:
- Long-term kidney disease survivors function similarly to their healthy peers.
- The family environment appears to buffer illness-related stress.
- Targeted assessment and intervention are necessary for understudied pediatric kidney disease populations.
Objective:
To examine family environment, levels of parenting stress, and child behavior problems in children with one of three kidney diseases compared to healthy children and to examine predictors of psychological distress in the full sample.
Method:
Parents of children with steroid sensitive nephrotic syndrome, chronic renal insufficiency, or kidney transplant (n = 41) were compared to 34 healthy children of similar demographic characteristics.
Results:
Mean scores on family functioning, parenting stress, and child behavior were within normal limits. Family environment variables significantly predicted child behavior and parenting stress for parents of ill and healthy children. Qualitative responses provided insight into developmentally specific stressors and intervention needs in the illness groups.
Conclusions:
These data indicate that long-term survivors of kidney disease function similarly to demographically matched peers and that the family environment may buffer stress caused by illness. Specific concerns raised by parents in the kidney disease groups indicate the need to appropriately assess and intervene with this understudied population.