Children and adolescents adjustment to parental multiple sclerosis: a systematic review

Razaz, Neda; Nourian, Reza; Marrie, Ruth A; Boyce, W T; Tremlett, Helen

Children and adolescents adjustment to parental multiple sclerosis: a systematic review

dc.contributor.author	Razaz, Neda
dc.contributor.author	Nourian, Reza
dc.contributor.author	Marrie, Ruth A
dc.contributor.author	Boyce, W T
dc.contributor.author	Tremlett, Helen
dc.date.accessioned	2014-06-02T11:11:02Z
dc.date.available	2014-06-02T11:11:02Z
dc.date.issued	2014-05-19
dc.date.updated	2014-06-02T11:11:03Z
dc.description.abstract	Abstract Background Families are the primary source of support and care for most children. In Western societies, 4 to 12% of children live in households where a parent has a chronic illness. Exposure to early-life stressors, including parenting stress, parental depression and parental chronic disease could lead to harmful changes in children’s social, emotional or behavioural functioning. Little is known about the child living with a parent who has Multiple Sclerosis (MS). We systematically reviewed the literature regarding possible effects of having a parent with MS on the child’s or adolescent's psychosocial adjustment. Methods The following databases: MEDLINE, PsychInfo, CINAHL, EMBASE, Web of Knowledge, ERIC, and ProQuest Digital Dissertations were searched (from 1806 to December 2012). References from relevant articles were also manually searched. Selected studies were evaluated using the Graphic Appraisal Tool for Epidemiology (GATE). Results The search yielded 3133 titles; 70 articles were selected for full text review. Eighteen studies met inclusion criteria. Fourteen studies employed quantitative techniques, of which 13 were cross-sectional and one was longitudinal. Four studies were both qualitative and cross-sectional in design. Only 2 of 18 studies were rated as having high methodological quality. Overall, eight studies reported that children of MS patients exhibited negative psychosocial traits compared with children of “healthy” parents. Specifically for adolescents, greater family responsibilities were linked to lower social relationships and higher distress. Three studies indicated that parental MS was associated with positive adjustment in children and adolescents, such as higher personal competence, while four found no statistically significant differences. Conclusion Although having a parent with MS was often reported to have negative psychosocial effects on children and adolescents, there was a lack of consensus and some positive aspects were also found. However, few high quality studies were identified which makes it difficult to draw evidence-based conclusions at this point. There are potentially important, long-term impacts of early life stressors, such as having a parent with a chronic disease, on subsequent life chances and health, and thus more extensive and higher quality research in this area is greatly needed.
dc.description.version	Peer Reviewed
dc.identifier.citation	BMC Neurology. 2014 May 19;14(1):107
dc.identifier.doi	http://dx.doi.org/10.1186/1471-2377-14-107
dc.identifier.uri	http://hdl.handle.net/1993/23610
dc.language.rfc3066	en
dc.rights	open access	en_US
dc.rights.holder	Neda Razaz et al.; licensee BioMed Central Ltd.
dc.title	Children and adolescents adjustment to parental multiple sclerosis: a systematic review
dc.type	Journal Article