title: Families with children with diabetes: implications of parent stress for parent and child health.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To examine the relation of parent stress to parent mental health and child mental and physical health.
  
  
  METHODS
  We interviewed children with type 1 diabetes (n = 132; mean age 12 years) annually for 5 years and had one parent complete a questionnaire at each assessment. Parents completed measures of general life stress, stress related to caring for a child with diabetes, benefit finding, and mental health. Child outcomes were depressive symptoms, self-care behavior, and glycemic control. Multilevel modeling was used to examine concurrent and longitudinal relations.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Greater parent general stress and greater parent diabetes-specific stress were associated with poorer parent mental health. Overall, greater parent general stress was associated with poorer child outcomes, whereas greater parent diabetes-specific stress was associated with better child outcomes.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Families with high levels of general life stress should be identified as they are at risk for both poor parent and child health outcomes.
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychology, Carnegie Mellon University, Pittsburgh, PA 15213, USA. vh2e@andrew.cmu.edu
authors.forename: Vicki S
authors.initials: VS
authors.lastname: Helgeson
authors.forename: Dorothy
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Becker
authors.forename: Oscar
authors.initials: O
authors.lastname: Escobar
authors.forename: Linda
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Siminerio
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D002648:Child; D002669:Child Welfare; D003922:Diabetes Mellitus, Type 1 / Q000523:psychology*; D005190:Family / Q000523:psychology*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008137:Longitudinal Studies; D008297:Male; D008603:Mental Health; D010287:Parent-Child Relations; D010290:Parents / Q000523:psychology*; D012648:Self Care; D013315:Stress, Psychological / Q000523:psychology*; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires