Family Support Services and Reported Parent Coping Among Caregivers of Children with Emotional, Behavioral, or Developmental Disorders.
Genevieve Graaf, Phillip M Hughes, Neal A deJong and 1 others
PMID 38127916WHAT IT FOUND
Adequate care coordination and emotional support services were associated with better coping in caregivers of children with special health care needs.
This association was strongest for caregivers without any emotional support. However, caregivers with only informal support reported the highest coping rates.
Key findings
01Among caregivers with no emotional support, adequate care coordination was significantly associated with higher positive coping (AOR=1.62).
02Receipt of professional emotional support services was associated with increased coping among caregivers with inadequate care coordination (AOR=3.22).
03Caregivers reporting only informal emotional support had even higher odds of positive coping (AOR=5.15) compared to those with no support.
STILL TO COME
How it was doneWhat they found
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What it does not show
The study is cross-sectional, so it cannot prove that these services cause better coping. Child EBDP status was based solely on caregiver report, not diagnostic screening. Caregiver coping was measured by a single self-reported question, which may not capture the full complexity of coping. Data were collected via survey, which is subject to recall bias. The association between informal support and high coping may reflect reverse causality: families with better coping may rely more on informal networks, while struggling families seek formal services.
Declared interests
The authors have no conflicts of interest to declare.
The easy way to misread this
Do not conclude that professional emotional support services are less effective than informal support because informal support showed higher odds ratios. The authors suggest this likely reflects that families with lower coping and higher needs are more likely to access formal support services, creating a selection effect rather than a difference in intervention efficacy.