Comparing parental distress, family functioning, and the role of social support for caregivers with and without a child with juvenile rheumatoid arthritis.
OBJECTIVE
To assess parental distress, family functioning, and social support among parents of children with a lifetime diagnosis of juvenile rheumatoid arthritis (JRA) and comparison families.


METHODS
Parents of 64 children with JRA (64 mothers, 46 fathers) completed questionnaires and in-home interviews along with 64 matched comparison families. Average time since diagnosis for children with JRA was 70 months.


RESULTS
Families of children with JRA generally reported levels of parental distress, family functioning, and social support similar to those for comparison families. More mothers of children with JRA exceeded the clinical cutoff on the SCL-90-R than comparison mothers. Although disease characteristics and social support did not distinguish subgroups of parents at greater risk for problems, family supportiveness and conflict were associated with caseness for mothers of children with JRA.


CONCLUSIONS
Families of children with JRA exhibited substantial resilience over the long term. Further multisite study of children recently diagnosed and with more severe forms of JRA is warranted to determine intervention needs, especially for mothers.
Gerhardt
Cynthia A
CA
Division of Hematology/Oncology, Children's Hospital Medical Center, 3333 Burnet Avenue, Cincinnati, OH 45229-3039. cindy.gerhardt@chmcc.org
Vannatta
Kathryn
K
McKellop
J Mark
JM
Zeller
Meg
M
Taylor
Janalee
J
Passo
Murray
M
Noll
Robert B
RB
D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D001171:Arthritis, Juvenile / Q000523:psychology*; D017028:Caregivers / Q000523:psychology*; D002648:Child; D005190:Family / Q000523:psychology*; D005192:Family Health; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D010290:Parents / Q000523:psychology; D012944:Social Support; D013315:Stress, Psychological