Objective: The complex medical regimens of children and adolescents with chronic conditions can have a significant impact on families and households. Caregivers may experience burden, which can lead to negative health consequences and poor quality of life. The objective of this study was to determine child-related predictors and risk factors for caregiver burden among parents of children with chronic conditions. Methods: We distributed an institutional review board (IRB)-approved, online cross-sectional survey to parents of children who attended the Victory Junction therapeutic camp. Parents provided information on child demographics, disease characteristics, and healthcare utilization. Parents also answered the adapted Zarit Burden Interview, which measured caregiver burden. Children completed scales about self-management and self-efficacy. Linear regression analyses determined how children’s disease characteristics, health utilization, and self-management skills were associated with caregiver burden. Results: We enrolled 150 mother-child dyads. The mean age of child participants was 12.23 years (±2.5), with an age range of 6 to 16 years. It was determined that children’s number of medicines and injections (β = 0.161, p = 0.047), a diagnosis of attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) in addition to the primary medical condition (β = 0.216, p = 0.008), frequent visits with a primary care provider (PCP) (β = 0.209, p = 0.026) and emergency room (ER) visits (β = 0.197, p = 0.038), and lower child self-efficacy (β = −0.241, p = 0.041) were predictors of increased caregiver burden. Conclusions: We identified risk factors for caregiver burden among mothers. Future studies should explore additional child-related characteristics as they relate to caregiver burden, and should determine if interventions for mothers of children with chronic conditions can lead to positive outcomes.

Chinese American students are often perceived as problem‐free high achievers. Recent research, however, suggests that high‐achieving Chinese American students can experience elevated levels of stress, especially comparing to their peers from other ethnic groups. In this paper, we examine how family dynamics may influence psychological adjustment among a group of high‐achieving adolescents. Drawing on survey data collected on 295 Chinese American and 192 European American 9th graders attending a highly selective magnet school, our findings show that Chinese American adolescents reported significantly lower levels of psychological adjustment (d = −.31), and significantly less family cohesion (d = −.34) and more conflict (d = .56) than their European American peers. Further, the ethnic differences on adjustment disappeared after controlling for perceptions of family cohesion and conflict, indicating that such perceptions may be a key factor in understanding the high academic achievement/low psychological adjustment paradoxical pattern of development among Chinese American adolescents.

AIMTo describe the longitudinal course of acquisition of healthcare transition skills among adolescents and young adults with inflammatory bowel diseases.METHODSWe recruited adolescents and young adults (AYA) with inflammatory bowel diseases (IBD), from the pediatric IBD clinic at the University of North Carolina. Participants completed the TRxANSITION Scale™ at least once during the study period (2006-2015). We used the electronic medical record to extract participants’ clinical and demographic data. We used ordinary least square regressions with robust standard error clustered at patient level to explore the variations in the levels and growths of healthcare transition readiness.RESULTSOur sample (n = 144) ranged in age from 14-22 years. Age was significantly and positively associated with both the level and growth of TRxANSITION Scale™ scores (P < 0.01). Many healthcare transition (HCT) skills were acquired between ages 12 and 14 years, but others were not mastered until after age 18, including self-management skills.CONCLUSIONThis is one of the first studies to describe the longitudinal course of HCT skill acquisition among AYA with IBD, providing benchmarks for evaluating transition interventions.

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