The Relationship of Parental Overprotection and Perceived Child Vulnerability to Depressive Symptomotology in Children With Type 1 Diabetes Mellitus: The Moderating Influence of Parenting Stress

Abstract

Objective To examine the relationship of parent-reported overprotection (OP), perceived child vulnerability (PCV), and parenting stress (PS) to youth-reported illness uncertainty, and to explore potential developmental differences. Method Eighty-two children and 82 adolescents (n ¼ 164) diagnosed with Type 1 diabetes mellitus (DM1) or asthma, completed a measure of illness uncertainty, while their parents completed measures of OP, PCV, and PS. Results After controlling for demographic and illness parameters, both PCV and PS significantly predicted youth illness uncertainty in the combined sample. Within the child group, only PS significantly predicted illness uncertainty, whereas only PCV significantly predicted uncertainty for adolescents. Conclusion Specific parenting variables are associated with youth-reported illness uncertainty; however, their relationship varies according to developmental level. Although OP has been identified as a predictor of child psychological outcomes in other studies, it does not appear to be associated with illness uncertainty in youth with DM1 or asthma.

Maternal distress in the context of their child’s type 1 diabetes: exploring the role of adaptive maternal emotion regulation on child outcomes

“…In line with previous research (Mullins et al, 2004), mothers experiencing more illness-related parenting stress had children with more depressive symptoms. Child anxiety -although common in children with T1D (Kovacs, Goldstone, Obrosky, & Bonare, 1997) -is often not included when child outcomes are examined.…”

A longitudinal examination of the parent–child distress relationship in children with juvenile rheumatic disease.

“…However, this concern was attenuated somewhat by the inclusion of a culturally heterogeneous sample and an observed attrition rate (29%) that approximated those seen in other longitudinal studies with pediatric and adult populations (e.g., Chaney et al, 2004;Janus & Goldberg, 1997).…”

“…Pearson-Filon r-to-z comparisons revealed that synchronous correlations did not differ significantly (see Table 2), indicating perfect stationarity in the data (see Chaney et al, 2004 andKenny, 1975 for calculations).…”

“…Indeed, they suggest that parent and child adjustment are interrelated and influence each other in a reciprocal fashion (Mullins, Fuemmeler, Hoff, Chaney, Van Pelt, & Ewing, 2004). However, the literature has largely focused on the cross-sectional relationship between parent and child adjustment, yet important questions regarding the longitudinal association and temporal nature of this relationship remain unanswered.…”

Parental attachment insecurity and parenting stress: The mediating role of parents’ perceived impact of children’s diabetes on the family.

“…We hypothesized that higher levels of anxiety and avoidance would be associated with increased levels of parenting stress through a more negative appraisal of the impact of diabetes. In addition, because parenting stress and perceived impact may correlate 7 with the disease duration (Mullins et al, 2004) and may vary according to the child's developmental stage (Moreira et al, 2013), this study also aims to examine whether the proposed indirect effects of attachment dimensions on parenting stress are moderated by children's age and duration of diabetes.…”