Child Functioning and Caregiver Well-being in Families of Children with Emotional Disorders

Abstract

Researchers and practitioners concerned about children with emotional disorders and their families often try to understand the relationship between a child's condition and family functioning. Does some aspect of the caregiver affect the child's emotional and behavioral difficulties? Does the strain of caring for a child with such difficulties have an impact on parents? Does each affect the other in some reciprocal fashion? Previous research has often been limited by cross-sectional designs and study of unidirectional effects. This article attempts to advance the understanding of the interplay between children's functioning and caregivers' well-being in a longitudinal study of 164 families. Data are from two waves of a panel survey and are analyzed using structural equation modeling. Results indicate that caregivers and children do have effects on each other and that the effect of child functioning on caregiver well-being increases over time. Implications for further research and interventions are suggested.