Severe congenital malformations, family functioning and parents' separation/divorce: a longitudinal study
Background We aim to explore the association of a severe congenital malformation (SCM) with postnatal family functioning and parents' separation/divorce and to examine if this association might be moderated by birth order of the child and parental level of education. SCM refers to malformations...
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Published in | Child : care, health & development Vol. 42; no. 1; pp. 16 - 24 |
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Main Authors | , , , |
Format | Journal Article |
Language | English |
Published |
England
Blackwell Publishing Ltd
01.01.2016
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Subjects | |
Online Access | Get full text |
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Summary: | Background
We aim to explore the association of a severe congenital malformation (SCM) with postnatal family functioning and parents' separation/divorce and to examine if this association might be moderated by birth order of the child and parental level of education. SCM refers to malformations that, without medical intervention, cause handicap or death.
Methods
Using the Quebec Longitudinal Study of Child Development, an ongoing population‐based birth cohort study initiated in 1998, we compared 1675 families of children with and without a SCM to identify if having a child with a SCM was associated with maternal perception of family functioning. We examined if an SCM was associated with parents' separation and examined parents' education level and birth order of the children to evaluate whether these factors had any moderating effect on the results.
Results
There were no significant differences in family functioning between families with and without a SCM child at 5 and 17 months. At 5 months, family functioning was significantly better (P = 0.03) for families with a SCM firstborn child than for families with a SCM child that is not firstborn. For parental separation, no significant differences were observed at 5 and 29 months and 4 years. No significant moderating effects were observed for birth order and parental education on parental separation.
Conclusions
Families of children with a SCM do not appear to be at higher risk of family dysfunction within the first 17 months after birth nor of parental separation within the first 4 years after birth. Family functioning tends to be worst in families where the child with SCM is the second or subsequent child born. |
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Bibliography: | ArticleID:CCH12269 istex:B0175D996075CBC9E7D57E55553A46B312E0E35F ark:/67375/WNG-3CZR0ZX0-G ObjectType-Article-1 SourceType-Scholarly Journals-1 ObjectType-Feature-2 content type line 23 |
ISSN: | 0305-1862 1365-2214 |
DOI: | 10.1111/cch.12269 |