Families of children with rare diseases (i.e., not more than 5 out of 10.000 people are affected) are often highly burdened with fears, insecurities and concerns regarding the affected child and his/her siblings. The aim of the present research project is to examine the psychosocial burden of the children with rare (congenital) pediatric surgical diseases and their family in order to draw attention to a possible psychosocial care gap in this population.
The central objective of the cross-sectional study is to show the psychosocial supply gap for families with children and adolescents affected by rare diseases in the field of pediatric surgery. Among the rare diseases that are included are diaphragmatic hernia, anorectal malformations, esophageal atresia, Hirschsprung's disease and biliary atresia. In order to have a comparative sample, additional data of a matched control group are collected. Central standardized psychosocial outcomes will be assessed from the perspectives of the parents, the affected child and the siblings.
Study Type
OBSERVATIONAL
Enrollment
167
University Medical Center Hamburg-Eppendorf
Hamburg, Germany
Quality of life of the parents (ULQIE)
Quality of life (QoL) of the parents, assessed from the perspective of the parents by the "Ulmer Lebensqualitätsinventar für Eltern chronisch kranker Kinder" (ULQIE; Goldbeck \& Storck, 2002). The instrument consists of 29 items, which are answered on a five-point Likert scale (0 to 4). Higher scores indicate greater QoL.
Time frame: 4 minutes
Mental health of the parents (BSI)
Mental health of the parents, assessed from the perspective of the parents by the "Brief Symptom Inventory" (BSI; Franke, 2000). The instrument consists of 53 items, which are answered on a five-point Likert scale (0 to 4). Higher BSI scores indicate greater psychological distress.
Time frame: 5 minutes
Health-related quality of life of the chronically-ill children/adolescents (Peds-QL 4.0)
Health-related quality of life of the chronically-ill children/adolescents, assessed from the perspective of the child/adolescent (from 10 years of age) and from the perspective of the parents by the "Pediatric Quality of Life Inventory 4.0" (Peds-QL 4.0; (Varni, Seid, \& Kurtin, 2001). Items will be linearly transformed to a scale of 0 to 100, with higher scores indicating better HRQoL.
Time frame: 4 minutes
Psychiatric disorders of the chronically-ill children/adolescents and the siblings (SDQ)
Psychiatric disorders of the chronically-ill children/adolescents and the siblings assessed perspective of the child/adolescent (from 10 years of age) and from the perspective of the parents by the "Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire" (SDQ; Klasen, Woerner, Rothenberger, \& Goodman, 2003). Items are rated on a three-point Likert scale (0 to 2). Higher scores represent greater psychopathology or greater prosocial behavior.
Time frame: 4 minutes
Coping of the parents (CHIP-D)
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Coping of the parents, assessed from the perspective of the parents by the German version of the "Coping Health Inventory for Parents" (CHIP-D; McCubbin, McCubbin, Cauble \& Goldbeck, 2001). Items are rated on a four-point Likert scale (0 to 3). Higher scores represent greater use of the respective coping pattern.
Time frame: 3 minutes
Coping of the chronically-ill children/adolescents and the siblings (Kidcope)
Coping of the chronically-ill children/adolescents and the siblings, assessed from the perspective of the children/adolescents (from 10 years of age) by the "Kidcope Checklist" (Kidcope; Spirito, Stark \& Williams, 1988). Items related to frequency of the coping strategies are rated on a 4 point scale (0 = "Not at all" to 3 = "Almost all the time"), and items related to efficacy are rated on a 5 point scale (0 = "Not at all" to 4 = "Very much").
Time frame: 3 minutes
Social support of the parents, of the chronically-ill children/adolescents and of the siblings (OSSS)
Social support of the parents, of the chronically-ill children/adolescents and of the siblings, assessed from the perspective of the parents, of the chronically-ill children/adolescents and from the sibling, respectively, by the "Oslo Social Support Scale" (OSSS; Dalgard, 2006). The sum score ranges from 3 to 14. The higher the sum score, the stronger the social support.
Time frame: 3 minutes
Sociodemographic information of the parents
Sociodemographic information of the parents, assessed from the perspective of the parents by ad-hoc items.
Time frame: 2 minutes
Relationships between siblings (SRQ)
Sibling relationship, assessed from the perspective of the siblings (from 10 years of age) by the "Sibling Relationship Questionnaire" (Bojanowski, Riestock, Nisslein, Weschenfelder-Stachwitz, \& Lehmkuhl, 2015). Each item is scored on a 5-point Likert scale (1 to 5).
Time frame: 3 minutes
Family relationships, family dynamics and functionality (FB-A)
Family relationships, family dynamics and functionality, assessed from the perspective of the parents, of the chronically-ill children/adolescents and from the sibling, respectively by "Familienbögen" (FB-A; Cierpka \& Frevert, 1994). Items are rated on a four-point Likert scale (0 to 3)
Time frame: 3 minutes
Interpersonal problems (IIP-32)
Interpersonal problems assessed from the perspective of the parents by the "Inventory of Interpersonal Problems-32" (IIP-32; Thomas, Brähler, \& Strauß, 2011). Items are rated on a four-point Likert scale from 0 (not at all) to 4 (extremely). It provides an overall score and eight subscale scores.
Time frame: 3 minutes
Familial predispositions (FaBel)
familial predispositions assessed from the perspective of the parents by the "Familien-Belastungs-Fragebogen" (FaBel; Ravens-Sieberer, 2001). Items are rated on a four-point Likert scale ranging from 1 (is not right at all) to 4 (is completely right).
Time frame: 3 minutes