Mediating Effects of Family and Clinical Characteristics on the Quality of Life of Children With Spina Bifida and Their Parents.
Seung Hyeon Yang, Hyeseon Yun, Hooyun Lee and 3 others
PMID 40377277WHAT IT FOUND
In 141 spina bifida parent-child pairs, higher parenting stress tracked with lower quality of life for both.
Family resilience was part of this link. Transition readiness was not part of the link overall, but may matter when children had incontinence, catheter or mobility needs.
Key findings
01Higher parenting stress was linked to lower quality of life for both parents and their children.
02Family resilience significantly mediated the link between parenting stress and quality of life for both parents and children.
03In the exploratory subgroup with SB-related clinical characteristics, transition readiness significantly mediated the link between parenting stress and child quality of life, while no significant indirect effects appeared in the subgroup without them.
STILL TO COME
How it was doneWhat they foundWhat it means for RNs
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What it does not show
The study was cross-sectional, so it cannot show that parenting stress, family resilience or transition readiness caused changes in quality of life, or how these relationships change as children age. The subgroup analysis was exploratory because neither clinical-characteristic group had more than 100 parent-child pairs, so the significant transition readiness path in the 78 pairs with SB-related characteristics needs confirmation. Of 156 enrolled pairs, 15 were not analysed: 9 withdrew and 6 had cognitive developmental delays that made the Korean questionnaire difficult to understand. Parents were mostly mothers (125 of 141, 88.71%), and the sample came from one South Korean clinic, so family roles and healthcare context may differ elsewhere. 44.7% of children had no SB-related clinical characteristics affecting quality of life, which the authors note is relatively high compared with Western studies.
Declared interests
The authors declared no conflicts of interest. The study was funded by the National Research Foundation of Korea.
The easy way to misread this
Do not read the significant transition readiness pathway in the subgroup with SB-related clinical characteristics as proof that transition education improves quality of life. That finding was exploratory, the study was cross-sectional, and the authors said the subgroup results need confirmation in a larger sample.