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Relationship between family-related factors and functional constipation among Chinese preschoolers: a case-control
Yushuo Niu1, Ting Liu1, Ni Ran2
1School of Nursing, Qingdao University, No.38 Dengzhou Road, Qingdao, 266021, Shandong Province, China.
Insights
Family factors significantly influence functional constipation in preschoolers. Parental conflict, parenting styles, and child behaviors like picky eating are key predictors, highlighting the need for family-centered interventions in early childhood.
Area of Science:
- Pediatric Gastroenterology
- Child Psychology
- Family Studies
Background:
- Functional constipation (FC) is a prevalent childhood issue with rising global statistics.
- FC affects approximately 0.5% to 32% of children.
- Family system theory provides a framework to understand FC's multifactorial nature.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate the associations between family-related factors and functional constipation in preschool children.
- To explore the impact of parental conflict, parenting styles, and parent-child relationships on childhood constipation.
- To apply family system theory to analyze the etiology of functional constipation.
Main Methods:
- A case-control survey was conducted in China involving preschoolers.
- 108 preschoolers diagnosed with functional constipation (Rome IV criteria) and 324 healthy controls were enrolled.
- Parents completed validated questionnaires assessing parental conflict, parenting style, parent-child relationship, and child emotional adjustment.
Main Results:
- Key predictors of functional constipation included picky eating, poor bowel habits, parental history of constipation, and parents blaming the child.
- Parental conflict and authoritarian or doting parenting styles were associated with increased FC risk.
- Increased father-child interaction time and better child anxiety/temper control were protective factors.
Conclusions:
- Significant associations exist between family-related factors and functional constipation in preschoolers.
- Findings underscore the importance of considering family dynamics in managing childhood constipation.
- This research supports a preventive approach for healthcare professionals addressing functional constipation in early childhood.
Background:
Constipation is one of the common symptoms in childhood. The prevalence of FC is about 0.5% to 32% and still on the rise according to global statistics. The aim of this study is to explore the associations between family-related factors (e.g., parental conflict, parenting style, and parent-child relationship) and functional constipation of preschool children based on family system theory.
Methods:
The study is a case-control survey of preschoolers in China. In total, 108 preschoolers with functional constipation diagnosed with pediatric Rome IV criteria and 324 healthy examination preschoolers without functional constipation were enrolled in the study. Parents completed the following 5 instruments: General information questionnaire, the Parental Conflict Scale, the Parenting Style Questionnaire, the Child-parent Relationship Scale and the Children's Emotional Adjustment Scale-Preschool Version.
Results:
Nine categories of factors which significantly predicted functional constipation in preschoolers were retained in the final logistic regression model: Second child in birth order (OR = 0.456; 95% CI, 0.229 to 0.910), children picky eating (OR = 2.936; 95% CI, 1.133 to 7.611), bad bowel habits (OR = 2.896; 95% CI, 1.391 to 6.028), parental history of constipation (OR = 3.259; 95% CI, 1.600 to 6.639), parents blaming the child for having a bad bowel movement (OR = 3.788; 95% CI, 1.391 to 10.318), more than 3 h of fathers-child interaction time per day (OR = 0.137; 95% CI, 0.024 to 0.778), parental conflict (OR = 1.981; 95% CI, 0.950 to 3.831), doting or authoritarian parenting style (OR = 1.644; 95% CI, 1.067 to 2.534, OR = 2.481; 95% CI, 1.362 to 4.519), and anxiety control or temper control in children (OR = 0.492; 95% CI, 0.303 to 0.799, OR = 0.189; 95% CI, 0.103 to 0.348).
Conclusions:
This study identified the significant associations between family-related factors and functional constipation in preschool children, which provide implications for healthcare professionals to address functional constipation in early childhood using a preventive lens.
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