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Parenting Stress Trajectories in Parents of Children with Congenital Heart Disease

Laurie Tremblay1, Charles Lepage2, Yara Maalouf3

  • 1Laurie Tremblay, Research assistant, Centre de recherche du CHU Sainte-Justine, Montréal, Québec, Canada; Laurie Tremblay, Doctoral candidate in clinical psychology, Département de psychologie, Faculté des lettres et sciences humaines, Université de Sherbrooke, Longueuil, Québec, Canada.

Journal of Pediatric Health Care : Official Publication of National Association of Pediatric Nurse Associates & Practitioners
|July 30, 2025
PubMed

Insights

Parenting stress in parents of children with congenital heart disease often remains high, particularly parental distress and difficult child interactions. Early identification of stress predictors is crucial for timely support.

Area of Science:

  • Pediatric Cardiology
  • Developmental Psychology
  • Family Health

Background:

  • Parenting children with congenital heart disease (CHD) presents unique challenges.
  • Understanding parenting stress trajectories is vital for family well-being.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To examine parenting stress development in parents of children with CHD from 4 to 60 months.
  • To identify predictors of parenting stress dimensions.

Main Methods:

  • Sixty-six parents of children with CHD completed the Parenting Stress Index-Short Form (PSI-4-SF) at 4, 24, and 60 months.
  • Multilevel growth curve modeling analyzed parenting stress trajectories (parental distress, difficult child, parent-child dysfunctional interactions).

Main Results:

  • Parental distress and difficult child dimensions fluctuated, while parent-child dysfunctional interactions decreased over time.
  • Lower birthweight predicted higher difficult child stress at 4 months.
  • Longer initial hospitalization predicted higher parent-child dysfunctional interactions stress at 4 months.

Conclusions:

  • Parents experiencing high parental distress and difficult child stress tend to remain highly stressed, emphasizing the need for early screening.
  • Identifying specific stress dimension predictors aids professionals in supporting at-risk families of children with CHD.
Abstract

Keywords:
Parenting stresschild developmentcongenital heart disease

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