title: Do the parent-child relationship and parenting behaviors differ between families with a child with and without chronic illness? A meta-analysis.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  The present meta-analysis compared the quality of the parent-child relationship as well as parenting behaviors and styles of families with a child with chronic physical illness with families of healthy children or test norms.
  
  
  METHODS
  Empirical studies were identified with the help of electronic databases and cross-referencing. Based on 325 included studies, random-effects meta-analysis was performed.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Although most effect sizes were small or very small, the parent-child relationship tended to be less positive if a child had a chronic physical illness (g = -.16 standard deviation units). In addition, lower levels of parental responsiveness (emotional warmth; g = -.22) as well as higher levels of demandingness (control, monitoring; g = .18) and overprotection (g = .39) were observed in these families. However, effect sizes were heterogeneous and only significant for a limited number of diseases. There was also some evidence for higher levels of authoritarian (g = .24) and neglectful parenting (g = .51) as well as lower levels of authoritative parenting compared with families with healthy children (g = -.13). Effect sizes varied, in part, by length of illness, child age, rater, assessment method, and target of comparison.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  We conclude that most families with a child with chronic physical illness adapt well with regard to the parent-child relationship and parenting behaviors/styles. Nonetheless, some families of children with specific diseases-such as epilepsy, hearing impairment, and asthma-may have difficulties finding appropriate levels of protective behaviors, control, and parental warmth and building positive mutual relationships between parents and children.
authors: Department of Psychology, Philipps University, D-35032 Marburg, Gutenbergstrasse 18, Germany. pinquart@staff.uni-marburg.de
authors: Martin
authors: M
authors: Pinquart
mesh_terms: D002648:Child; D002908:Chronic Disease / Q000523:psychology*; D006801:Humans; D010287:Parent-Child Relations; D016487:Parenting / Q000523:psychology*; D016032:Randomized Controlled Trials as Topic / Q000523:psychology
keywords: chronic illness; meta-analysis; parenting; parent–child relationship