Parental Illness and Life Satisfaction among Young People: A Cross-Sectional Study of the Importance of School Factors

Abstract

Background: The aim of this study was to examine the relationship between parental illness and life satisfaction among Danish adolescents and the potential modifying effect of positive school experiences. Moreover, we describe the use of student counsellor services among adolescents with and without ill parents.

Methods: Data included 9565 adolescents primarily aged 13-19 years, who participated in the cross-sectional Well-being Despite Study. Multilevel logistic regression models including joint effect analyses were performed.

Results: Parental illness was strongly associated with life satisfaction. Negative school experiences were more frequent among adolescents with ill parents and strongly associated with low life satisfaction for all students. However, joint effect analyses did not show effect modification by school-related variables. The odds ratio of having talked to a student counsellor was highest for adolescents with multiple ill parents, compared to no ill parents.

Conclusions: Parental illness is a strong predictor of low life satisfaction among adolescents; the impact depends on number of ill parents, whether parental illness is physical or mental, and their level of impairment. Positive school experiences were less frequent in adolescents of ill parents and did not counteract the effect of parental illness on life satisfaction.

Keywords: adolescents; life satisfaction; parental illness; school environment.

Figure 1

Odds ratios of low life satisfaction by joint effect of parental illness and school-related factors. Adjusted for gender, age, and family occupational social class.