Open AccessPatient and Parent Psychosocial Factors Associated With Health‐related Quality of Life in Pediatric Inflammatory Bowel Disease
Author(s) -
Herzer Michele,
Denson Lee A,
Baldassano Robert N,
Hommel Kevin A
Publication year - 2011
Publication title -
journal of pediatric gastroenterology and nutrition
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.206
H-Index - 131
eISSN - 1536-4801
pISSN - 0277-2116
DOI - 10.1097/mpg.0b013e3181f5714e
Subject(s) - medicine , psychosocial , quality of life (healthcare) , distress , disease , psychological intervention , mediation , inflammatory bowel disease , clinical psychology , depressive symptoms , depression (economics) , psychiatry , anxiety , nursing , political science , law , economics , macroeconomics
Objectives: The aim of the study was to examine the mediating role of youth depressive symptoms in the relation between parent distress and youth health‐related quality of life (HRQOL) in a sample of adolescents with inflammatory bowel disease (IBD). Patients and Methods: Sixty‐two adolescents, ages 13 to 17 years, with a confirmed diagnosis of IBD completed assessments of depressive symptoms and HRQOL. Each adolescent's primary caregiver completed a measure of parent stress related to his or her child's illness. Pediatric gastroenterologists provided data for disease severity assessments. Results: Multiple regression analyses revealed that adolescent depressive symptoms fully mediated the relation between parent distress and several dimensions of HRQOL (ie, general well‐being, emotional functioning, social functioning, and total HRQOL). Moreover, mediation was observed after statistically controlling for the effect of disease severity, IBD diagnosis, and significant demographic parameters on HRQOL. Conclusions: Findings suggest that adolescent depressive symptoms may serve as the mechanism through which parent distress is linked to poorer HRQOL in adolescents with IBD. Close monitoring of parent illness‐related distress and adolescent depressive symptoms, as well as clinical interventions targeting these factors, is needed to promote optimal outcomes in adolescents with IBD.