Actor and partner effects of parenting stress and co-parenting on marital conflict among parents of children with atopic dermatitis

Abstract

Background: It is important for healthcare providers to pay attention to parents' rearing style and children's physical symptoms to promote a healthy quality of life among children with atopic dermatitis. We aimed to identify effects of parenting stress and co-parenting on marital conflict among parents of children with atopic dermatitis. Methods: Participants were 161 fathers and 161 mothers raising seven-year-old children treated for atopic dermatitis. To confirm the effects of parenting stress and co-parenting on marital conflict, the "actor-partner interdependence mediation model" was used. To verify goodness-of-fit, maximum likelihood method was used, and a confirmatory factor analysis was conducted to confirm the validity of latent variables for model analysis. Results: Fathers' parenting stress had actor (β = −.46, p < .001) and partner (β = −.22, p < .001) effects on coparenting, and mothers' parenting stress had actor (β = −.20, p < .001) and partner (β = −.36, p < .001) effects on coparenting. Fathers' parenting stress only had an actor effect on marital conflict (β = .32, p < .001). Father's coparenting had actor (β = −.29, p < .001) and partner (β = −.22, p < .001) effects on marital conflict, and mothers' coparenting had actor (β = −.39, p < .001) and partner (β = −.19, p < .001) effects on marital conflict. There were significant differences between the two groups concerning three path coefficients: fathers' parenting stress affected fathers' marital conflict, fathers' co-parenting affected fathers' marital conflict, and mothers' co-parenting affected fathers' marital conflict. Conclusions: It is vital for healthcare providers to seek ways to reduce the marital conflicts of parents of children with atopic dermatitis, including further examination of the role of co-parenting, to address children's physical symptoms and promote their health. Our findings inform management and intervention programs for the families of children with atopic dermatitis.

Psychological Stress in Parents of Children with Atopic Dermatitis: A Cross-sectional Study from the Korea National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey

“…The increase in stress experience only in mothers of children with AD is consistent with the literature, which reports that parenting stress increases in mothers rather than in fathers ( 10 , 11 ). One plausible explanation for the current findings regarding the psychological stress in mothers of children with AD is the time needed to care for children with AD.…”

Psychological Stress of Parents of Children With Atopic Dermatitis: The Korea National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey

“…The increase only in mothers of children with AD is consistent with the literature, which has held that parenting stress increases in mothers rather than in fathers. 10,11 One plausible explanation for our ndings on the psychological stress of mothers of children with AD is the time needed to care for children with AD. For all disease stages of AD, including eczema-free intervals, general measures such as use of moisturizers, therapy for skin infection, avoidance of triggers, and education for children and caregivers are recommended.…”

Chronic Disease Management of Children Followed with Type 1 Diabetes Mellitus

“…Chronic illness of a family member can also affect the relationship between all family members. When parents support each other, parents’ trust in each other increases, but conflict between spouses causes stress and decreases parental motivation ( 18 ). In the present study, there was a significant difference between the groups when divided by maternal years of education and the income level of the family in the parental mutuality score.…”