The impact of parents’ chronic medical condition on children

The results of this research suggests that latency-aged and adolescent children generally cope well with the parent’s chronic disease. In terms of parent attachment, coping skills, and salivary cortisol, adolescents with a chronically ill parent have similar scores as those who do not have a chronically ill parent. In fact, compared with adolescents of single parents, they report less stress, fewer school problems, and higher self-esteem. However, children with a chronically ill parent do report significantly more internalizing problems than children with healthy parents, and they score unfavorably on many outcome variables, such as caregiving impact, self-report of daily hassles and stress, and grade point average. Above all, child adaptational processes such as daily hassles and stress, and family functioning variables like parent attachment seem to predict developmental problems in children with a chronically ill parent. Hence, these children should receive support from their environment. Most importantly, coping skills, self-esteem, and healthy family relationships need to be fostered in order to reduce their stress levels. A family-centered approach is to be advocated.