Abstract
Purpose. To compare the quality of life (QoL) and emotional well-being of the offspring of parents with Parkinson's disease (PD) and multiple sclerosis (MS) and to consider results in light of current UK clinical guidelines. Methods. 143 adolescent and adult children of parents with PD and MS were postally administered the Parental Illness Impact Scale and a measure of emotional well-being. Results. Minimal differences were observed between the two groups in both QoL and emotional well-being. Levels of mild to moderate depression were substantially greater than those of the general population. Conclusions. The nonsignificant differences reported indicate a similar degree of impact across the two conditions assessed. A significant body of evidence demonstrates the considerable impact of parental MS, with the needs of children being acknowledged in current clinical guidelines. There is a need to similarly acknowledge the potential impact of parental Parkinson's in UK guidelines for PD.
Highlights
The impact of neurological illness on the well-being of children of affected individuals has, until recently, remained largely underinvestigated
Some have suggested that children of parents with spinal cord injury appear well adjusted to their parent’s condition [18, 19], and that children of people with multiple sclerosis (PWMS) can adjust well to their parent’s condition [20]
As might be expected due to the average age of onset of the two parental conditions, there was a significant difference in age between the two samples (t = 3.78, P < .00), with offspring of people with Parkinson (PWP) older than offspring of PWMS
Summary
The impact of neurological illness on the well-being of children of affected individuals has, until recently, remained largely underinvestigated. An exception to this is multiple sclerosis (MS) where a body of research has developed, over the last 10 years [1,2,3,4,5,6,7]. Children report elevated levels of depression and anxiety [1, 11,12,13,14], with changing roles and heightened responsibility [2, 9, 15, 16] This in turn can have negative implications for their independence [9]. Children of parents with inflammatory bowel disease report some positive as well as negative responses to their parent’s condition [17]
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