Parental Involvement of Mothers With Chronic Illness and Children’s Academic Achievement

Abstract

This study examined how maternal chronic illnesses may affect children’s academic achievement through parental involvement. A total of 189 mothers diagnosed with chronic illnesses, such as multiple sclerosis, diabetes, cancer, HIV/AIDS, chronic pain, asthma, myelodysplasic syndrome, and fibromyalgia, and with a child in middle school or high school (age 10-18 years) completed questionnaires assessing the demands of illness on family functioning, parental involvement, and the child’s academic functioning. The results suggested that the majority of children of mothers with chronic illness were able to function adequately in terms of academic achievement. However, children’s academic functioning might be at risk when family functioning was more disrupted as the result of maternal illness. Children’s grades were negatively related to levels of demands of illness on family functioning. Levels of illness demands were negatively related to parental self-efficacy. Moreover, parental self-efficacy attenuated the effects of disruption in normal family functioning on children’s academic achievement.

The Effects of Being an Only Child, Family Cohesion, and Family Conflict on Behavioral Problems among Adolescents with Physically Ill Parents

“…They need to take on additional family responsibilities during parental illness [ 2 , 3 ]. Families with physically ill parents may suffer the loss of financial resources [ 4 ]. Due to these factors, adolescents with physically ill parents may be at a high risk of behavioral problems [ 5 , 6 , 7 ].…”

“…Although there were many studies exploring the effects of being an only child on adolescents’ mental health, most studies were limited to general population, and few of them focused on adolescents with physically ill parents. Parental physical illness may lead to the loss of financial resources and less attention to adolescents from family members [ 4 , 17 ]. Loss of family resources may enhance the negative effect of sibship size on children’s development [ 18 ].…”

Parental Illness and Young People’s Education

“…One study conducted in the Netherlands (Sieh et al 2013) examined differences in (self-reported) school grades and found that children with parents having a chronic medical condition had an increased risk of poor academic achievement. Conversely, most children in the study conducted by Chen and Fish (2012) in the U.S. appeared to function adequately in terms of academic achievement; the authors found no direct association between parental illness and children's academic performance. On the other hand, using a sample of 13,556 U.S. adolescents, Boardman et al (2012) found a small difference in the probability of graduating from high school as a function of parental health.…”

“…To understand the difference in effects of parental somatic and psychiatric illnesses on the probability of ESL, one must relate the findings not only to the institutional context but also to the difference in the burden of the health problems imposed by the two types of illness. While it is possible to maintain a functional degree of parenting and involvement in the education of one's children's while suffering from some somatic illnesses (Chen and Fish 2012), psychiatric illnesses cause a greater degree of functional disability in comparison to somatic disorders (Linden et al 2015) and interfere with the fulfilment of complex daily duties and participation across all areas of life. Moreover, processes of parentification are more common when parents have mental illnesses (Loch 2016), and it can be particularly burdensome for a child or adolescent to supervise and emotionally support a parent with mental illness.…”

Unintentional Prescription Drug Non-Compliance for Financial Reasons in Families With a Child With a Limiting Health Condition

“…Regardless of the role of the family member (child with the limiting health condition, parent, or sibling), as empirical studies indicate, unmet health care needs experienced by one family member can impact all household members (Burton et al, 2012). Indeed, unmet health care needs can have a broad impact on family members influencing physical health, cognitive abilities, educational achievement, general mental health, depression, anxiety, and social engagement (Chen & Fish, 2013aLanzi, Pascoe, Keltner, & Ramey, 1999;Sharpe & Rossiter, 2002). If a condition worsens for any individual in the family, additional stress, exhaustion, and health complications (Burton et al, 2012) may arise within members of the family unit.…”