title: Youth adjustment to parental illness or disability: the role of illness characteristics, caregiving, and attachment.
abstract: This study aimed to (1) examine relations between youth adjustment and three sets of predictors: parental illness/disability characteristics, caregiving, and parent-child attachment, and (2) explore differences on these variables between youths of parental physical illness/disability and youths of parental mental illness. Eighty-one youths between 10 and 25 years of a parent with a physical illness/disability (35%) or a mental illness (43%) completed a series of self-report measures assessing perceived characteristics of the parent's illness/disability, caregiving experiences, and adjustment outcomes. Results revealed a set of predictors of poorer youth adjustment: gradual illness/disability onset, being male, isolation, lower perceived maturity, and less choice in caregiving. Youths of parental mental illness differed from youths of parental physical illness/disability on emotional distress (worry and discomfort) dimensions of caregiving. Youth-parent attachment security was associated with youth caregiving and there was a trend for attachment to vary according to parental illness/disability type. Findings highlight young caregiving as an important target for service and policy planning.
authors.affiliation: School of Psychology, The University of Queensland, Brisbane, Australia.
authors.forename: Michael J
authors.initials: MJ
authors.lastname: Ireland
authors.forename: Kenneth I
authors.initials: KI
authors.lastname: Pakenham
mesh_terms: D000223:Adaptation, Psychological; D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D017028:Caregivers / Q000523:psychology*; D002648:Child; D016241:Child of Impaired Parents / Q000523:psychology*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D001523:Mental Disorders; D009517:New South Wales; D009769:Object Attachment; D011793:Queensland; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D055815:Young Adult