Comparing parental distress, family functioning, and the role of social support for caregivers with and without a child with juvenile rheumatoid arthritis

Abstract

Objective: To assess parental distress, family functioning, and social support among parents of children with a lifetime diagnosis of juvenile rheumatoid arthritis (JRA) and comparison families.

Methods: Parents of 64 children with JRA (64 mothers, 46 fathers) completed questionnaires and in-home interviews along with 64 matched comparison families. Average time since diagnosis for children with JRA was 70 months.

Results: Families of children with JRA generally reported levels of parental distress, family functioning, and social support similar to those for comparison families. More mothers of children with JRA exceeded the clinical cutoff on the SCL-90-R than comparison mothers. Although disease characteristics and social support did not distinguish subgroups of parents at greater risk for problems, family supportiveness and conflict were associated with caseness for mothers of children with JRA.

Conclusions: Families of children with JRA exhibited substantial resilience over the long term. Further multisite study of children recently diagnosed and with more severe forms of JRA is warranted to determine intervention needs, especially for mothers.