Family functioning and health-related quality of life in adolescents with pediatric inflammatory bowel disease.

OBJECTIVES

To examine the relationship between family functioning and health-related quality of life (HRQOL) in a sample of adolescents with inflammatory bowel disease (IBD), and to specify the domains of family functioning with which these families experience difficulties.

METHODS

Sixty-two adolescents, aged 13-17 years, with a confirmed diagnosis of IBD completed assessments of HRQOL. Each adolescent's primary caregiver completed a measure of family functioning. Pediatric gastroenterologists provided data for disease severity assessments.

RESULTS

A series of multivariate analyses of variance showed that adolescents from families with clinically elevated difficulties in problem solving, communication, and general family functioning endorsed lower HRQOL (i.e., social functioning, general well-being) after statistically controlling the effects of disease severity and diagnosis. As many as 25% of families reported clinically elevated difficulties across domains of family functioning.

CONCLUSIONS

Findings suggest that family functioning may be an important predictor of HRQOL among the adolescents with IBD, and that many families experience difficulties in their daily interactions. Close monitoring of family functioning may be a salient feature for prevention and intervention efforts and beneficial in promoting optimal psychosocial outcomes among the adolescents with IBD.