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Parental post-traumatic stress, overprotective parenting, and emotional and behavioural problems for children with critical congenital heart disease
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 09 August 2021
Abstract
To examine relationships amongst parental post-traumatic stress symptoms, parental post-traumatic growth, overprotective parenting, and child emotional/behavioural problems in families of children with critical CHD.
Sixty parents (15 fathers) of children aged 1–6 completed online questionnaires assessing parental post-traumatic stress symptoms and post-traumatic growth, overprotective parenting, and child emotional/behavioural problems. Bivariate correlations and mediational analyses were conducted to evaluate overprotective parenting as a mediator of the association between parental post-traumatic stress symptoms and child emotional/behavioural problems.
Parents reported significant post-traumatic stress symptoms, with over 18% meeting criteria for post–traumatic stress disorder and 70% meeting criteria in one or more clusters. Parental post-traumatic growth was positively correlated with intrusion (r = .32, p = .01) but it was not associated with other post-traumatic stress symptom clusters. Parental post-traumatic stress symptoms were positively associated with overprotective parenting (r = .37, p = .008) and total child emotional/behavioural problems (r = .29, p = .037). Overprotective parenting was positively associated with total child emotional/behavioural problems (r = .45, p = .001) and fully mediated the relationship between parental post-traumatic stress symptoms and child emotional/behavioural problems.
Overprotective parenting mediates the relationship between parental post-traumatic stress symptoms and child emotional and behavioural problems in families of children with CHD. Both parental post-traumatic stress symptoms and overprotective parenting may be modifiable risk factors for poor child outcomes. This study highlights the need for interventions to prevent or reduce parental post-traumatic stress symptoms and to promote effective parenting following a diagnosis of CHD.
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- © The Author(s), 2021. Published by Cambridge University Press
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