Life satisfaction in children with CHD and parental burnout: a cross-sectional study

Children with CHD may experience psychosocial difficulties, while their parents may face caregiving demands. Within the family system, children's life satisfaction and parental burnout may be interconnected, as children's psychosocial well-being and parents' experiences of the parenting role may be associated with the functioning and well-being of the family as a whole. However, the relationship between children's life satisfaction and parental burnout remains unclear. This study aimed to assess life satisfaction in children with CHD and examine its relationship with parental burnout.

This descriptive correlational cross-sectional study included 234 children with CHD aged 8-13 years and one parent attending a paediatric cardiology outpatient clinic in İstanbul, Türkiye, during November 2023-February 2024. Children's life satisfaction and parental burnout were assessed using the Satisfaction with Life Scale adapted for Children and Parental Burnout Assessment. Pearson correlation analysis examined their relationship, and differences according to sociodemographic and clinical characteristics were assessed using independent samples t-tests and one-way analysis of variance.

Mean Satisfaction with Life Scale adapted for Children and mean Parental Burnout Assessment scores were 17.32 ± 1.75 and 17.43 ± 6.19, respectively. Neither life satisfaction nor parental burnout differed according to examined child, parent, or family characteristics (all p > 0.05). No association was found between life satisfaction and parental burnout (r = -0.087, p = 0.185), and life satisfaction was not significantly correlated with any Parental Burnout Assessment subscale.

Children's life satisfaction was not significantly associated with parental burnout in this sample of children with CHD. Further research should examine individual, family, and disease-related factors associated with life satisfaction and parental well-being.