Abstract
BackgroundIt is important for healthcare providers to pay attention to parents’ rearing style and children’s physical symptoms to promote a healthy quality of life among children with atopic dermatitis. We aimed to identify effects of parenting stress and co-parenting on marital conflict among parents of children with atopic dermatitis.MethodsParticipants were 161 fathers and 161 mothers raising seven-year-old children treated for atopic dermatitis. To confirm the effects of parenting stress and co-parenting on marital conflict, the “actor-partner interdependence mediation model” was used. To verify goodness-of-fit, maximum likelihood method was used, and a confirmatory factor analysis was conducted to confirm the validity of latent variables for model analysis.ResultsFathers’ parenting stress had actor (β = −.46, p < .001) and partner (β = −.22, p < .001) effects on co-parenting, and mothers’ parenting stress had actor (β = −.20, p < .001) and partner (β = −.36, p < .001) effects on co-parenting. Fathers’ parenting stress only had an actor effect on marital conflict (β = .32, p < .001). Father’s co-parenting had actor (β = −.29, p < .001) and partner (β = −.22, p < .001) effects on marital conflict, and mothers’ co-parenting had actor (β = −.39, p < .001) and partner (β = −.19, p < .001) effects on marital conflict. There were significant differences between the two groups concerning three path coefficients: fathers’ parenting stress affected fathers’ marital conflict, fathers’ co-parenting affected fathers’ marital conflict, and mothers’ co-parenting affected fathers’ marital conflict.ConclusionsIt is vital for healthcare providers to seek ways to reduce the marital conflicts of parents of children with atopic dermatitis, including further examination of the role of co-parenting, to address children’s physical symptoms and promote their health. Our findings inform management and intervention programs for the families of children with atopic dermatitis.
Highlights
It is important for healthcare providers to pay attention to parents’ rearing style and children’s physical symptoms to promote a healthy quality of life among children with atopic dermatitis
According to a survey on the prevalence of allergic diseases in Korea among 933,000 patients, Atopic dermatitis (AD) had a proportionate morbidity rate of 48.6% in patients aged younger than 12 years, followed by 12.7% in those aged 13–19 years and 11.8% in those in their 20s; this indicates that the patients are more commonly children and adolescents than in other age groups [3]
Parents of children with AD must strictly manage AD daily, such as consistent skin moisturization, food preparation, and environmental management, as well as general childcare for each stage of children’s growth; in addition to the pain experienced by the child, the degree of parenting stress is relatively higher than with other diseases [8]
Summary
It is important for healthcare providers to pay attention to parents’ rearing style and children’s physical symptoms to promote a healthy quality of life among children with atopic dermatitis. Atopic dermatitis (AD) is the most prevalent sustained chronic inflammation and pruritic skin disease, affecting many infants and children in industrialized countries [1]. Parents of children with AD must strictly manage AD daily, such as consistent skin moisturization, food preparation, and environmental management, as well as general childcare for each stage of children’s growth; in addition to the pain experienced by the child, the degree of parenting stress is relatively higher than with other diseases [8]. Parents of children with AD experience psychological crises—such as guilt, hopelessness, frustration, and exhaustion—which negatively affect family functioning [10]
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