Perceived Differential Parenting and Childhood Physical-Mental Multimorbidity

Abstract

Background: Physical-mental multimorbidity (herein multimorbidity), the co-occurrence of a chronic physical and mental illness, affects a substantial proportion of children, compromising their quality of life, causing hardship for families, and burdening the healthcare system. Research investigating the potential causal mechanisms of childhood multimorbidity is scarce. Child-perceived differences in parenting style within families (i.e., differential parenting) may be one of these mechanisms. Objectives: 1— What is the direction and strength of the association between perceived differential parenting and psychopathology in children with chronic physical illnesses (i.e., multimorbidity)? 2— Do birth order and concordant/discordant child-sibling sex pairs moderate this association? 3— Does child self-concept mediate this association? Methods: Data come from the Multimorbidity in Children and Youth across the Life-course (MY LIFE) study. Perceived differential parenting was assessed using the Sibling Inventory of Differential Experiences (SIDE), and child psychopathology was assessed using the Emotional Behavioural Scale (EBS). linear mixed models were used to determine the directionality and strength of the association between perceived differential parenting and multimorbidity. Stratified models were computed to determine the moderating effect of birth order and child-sibling sex pairs. The product of coefficients approach was used alongside generalized linear modelling to determine the mediating effect of child self-concept. Implications: Health professionals can utilize findings to foster better communication within families and refer those at-risk to appropriate resources. Findings can also inform the integration of physical and mental health services to promote healthy child self-concept and nurturing family environments to reduce the incidence of childhood multimorbidity.