Family Factors and the Psychological Well-Being of Children and Adolescents with Inflammatory Bowel Disease-An Exploratory Study.

Background/

Objectives

The aim of our study was to examine the influence of family structure and the number of siblings on psychological problems and illness-related emotions in children and adolescents with inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) and the relationship between emotional coping in children and parents.

Methods

CEDNA is a nationwide German online and paper-based questionnaire administered between October 2021 and April 2022. Adolescents with IBD, aged 12 to 17 years, and parents of children aged 0 to 17 years with diagnosed IBD, were included. SAS was used for descriptive statistics and logistic regression analysis was performed using R Studio (PBC; 2023.06.0 + 421).

Results

1158 participants (450 adolescents and 708 parents) were included in the study. A two-parent household could not be associated with mental illness as a comorbidity in pediatric IBD patients (p = 0.06) but was shown to decrease the risk of sadness (p < 0.001), helplessness (p < 0.01), feeling left alone and lonely (p < 0.05). A single-parent household increased the risk of sadness (p = 0.001), helplessness (p = 0.002), and loneliness (p = 0.006). Having one to two siblings was associated with a lower risk of mental health problems (p = 0.03) and reduced anxiety (p = 0.005). An association was also found between parents and children's emotional coping skills.

Conclusions

Further research on family structure and siblings in pediatric IBD is needed, given the potential impact on children's psychological well-being.