Caregivers of children with a disorder of sex development: associations between parenting capacities and psychological distress

J Pediatr Urol. 2014 Jun;10(3):538-43. doi: 10.1016/j.jpurol.2013.11.016. Epub 2013 Dec 17.

Authors

Cortney Wolfe-Christensen¹, David A Fedele², Katherine Kirk³, Larry L Mullins⁴, Yegappan Lakshmanan⁵, Amy B Wisniewski⁶

Affiliations

¹ Department of Pediatric Urology, Children's Hospital of Michigan, 3901 Beaubien, Detroit, MI 48201, USA. Electronic address: cbwolfe@dmc.org.
² University of Florida, Department of Health and Clinical Psychology, Gainesville, FL, USA.
³ University of Oklahoma College of Nursing, Oklahoma City, OK, USA.
⁴ Department of Psychology, Oklahoma State University, Stillwater, OK, USA.
⁵ Department of Pediatric Urology, Children's Hospital of Michigan, 3901 Beaubien, Detroit, MI 48201, USA.
⁶ Department of Pediatrics, University of Oklahoma Health Sciences Center, Oklahoma City, OK, USA.

PMID: 24613141
DOI: 10.1016/j.jpurol.2013.11.016

Abstract

Objective: Caregivers of children with a disorder of sex development (DSD) are at increased risk for maladaptive parenting capacities, such as high levels of parental overprotection and perceived vulnerability of their child, in addition to parenting stress. The current study aims to examine whether there are relationships between these parenting capacities and psychological distress, including depressive and anxious symptoms.

Patients and methods: Participants included 134 caregivers of 90 children with a DSD. Caregivers completed measures of parental overprotection, perceived vulnerability, parenting stress, anxiety, and depression.

Results: Hierarchical regression analyses revealed that higher levels of parenting stress were related to more anxious and depressive symptoms in caregivers. Higher levels of perceived vulnerability were related to more anxious symptoms. Levels of parental overprotection were unrelated to anxious or depressive symptoms.

Conclusions: There is a relationship between parenting capacities and mental health outcomes in caregivers of children with DSD, although the direction of this relationship is not clear. Given the strong relationships between parenting stress and anxious and depressive symptoms, targeting parenting stress and/or psychological distress in these caregivers could result in better functioning overall.

Keywords: Disorders of Sex Development; Parenting; Psychosocial.

MeSH terms

Adult
Aged
Anxiety / psychology*
Caregivers / psychology*
Child
Disorders of Sex Development / psychology*
Female
Humans
Male
Middle Aged
Parent-Child Relations*
Parenting / psychology*
Sexual Development / physiology*
Stress, Psychological / psychology*
Surveys and Questionnaires
Young Adult