Systematic review of family and pediatric constipation: An overlooked piece of the puzzle.

The objective of this review is to summarize pertinent literature looking at family dynamics and/or adherence to treatment in pediatric functional constipation. A structured systematic literature search was conducted on MEDLINE, Embase, and Web of Science core collection libraries from the years 2000 to 2023 using specific search terms: constipation, treatment adherence, family dynamics, parenting style, and pediatrics. Seventy-one publications were identified and included for review. After screening based on alignment to the review, 20 publications remained. These publications were placed into three categories depending on their intent and findings: (1) recommendations to further increase adherence, (2) studies analyzing factors of adherence, and (3) studies stating a need for a better understanding of family factors. A future area of research is identifying the associations between family factors on adherence to constipation treatment regimens. Results from such studies would increase the amount of positive treatment outcomes and decrease unnecessary healthcare costs.

What Parents Should Know About Constipation in Children.

This Patient Page describes the symptoms, diagnosis, treatments, and timeline of constipation in children.

Does Parenting Style Affect Adolescent IBD Transition Readiness and Self-Efficacy Scores?

BACKGROUND: Transition to adult-centered care requires adolescents with inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) to acquire a set of independent self-management skills. Transition success can be affected by maturity, cognitive development, and many other factors. Our hypothesis was that parenting style would be associated with increased self-efficacy and therefore transitions readiness. METHODS: A prospective cohort survey study of adolescents with IBD and their parents from October 2018 to October 2019 was performed. Participants completed the IBD-Self-Efficacy Scale- Adolescent questionnaire (IBD-SES-A) and the Transition Readiness Assessment Questionnaire (TRAQ). Parents completed the Parent Styles and Dimensions Questionnaire (PSDQ-short form). Demographic and disease information were also collected. RESULTS: Sixty-nine participants were included for full analysis (36 males and 33 females); mean age was 18.2 years, and average age of IBD diagnosis 13 years. Overall, 83% of participants were non-Hispanic Caucasian, and 84% reported parental annual income over USD 100,000. All 69 parents reported an authoritative parenting style. Females have significantly higher TRAQ scores than males (p = 0.0004). TRAQ scores differed significantly between age groups, with 20 to 22 years old having higher scores (p ≤ 0.0001). TRAQ and IBD-SES-A scores did not differ by parental education or parenting style. CONCLUSION: Given the inability to delineate different parenting, this study was unable to demonstrate a protective parenting style associated with better transitions readiness and self-efficacy scores in adolescents with IBD. Within the context of authoritative parenting, we did find that females and older adolescents had higher transition readiness scores. Additional research into psychosocial determinants of transition readiness, and the importance of multidisciplinary management with an integrated team including psychologist and social workers, can help improve IBD transition outcomes.