JPP Student Journal Club Commentary: Family Functioning in Pediatric Functional Gastrointestinal Disorders

Pediatric functional gastrointestinal disorders (FGIDs) are often unpredictable and burdensome for youth and families and treatment primarily aims to improve quality of life and functional impairment by adapting behaviors and modifiable factors (Drossman, 2016;Van Oudenhove et al., 2016;Varni et  al., 2006). Family functioning is one modifiable factor that has long been recognized as an important influence on adjustment and quality of life across many pediatric illness populations (Drotar, 1997;Lewandowski et  al., 2010;McClellan& Cohen, 2007;Thompson et al., 1999;Van Schoors et  al., 2017) but has received little attention in the pediatric FGID literature. Notably, Garr et al. (2021) completed the first systematic review of family functioning studies in pediatric FGIDs and found only 17 studies across the several illnesses within FGIDs. This review demonstrated that youth with FGIDs experience worse family functioning than peers without chronic illnesses, but not peers with other chronic illnesses. Garr et al. also indicated that worse family functioning is related to increased difficulties with psychosocial adjustment and disease flares. The authors suggest that certain domains of family functioning, such as family roles and expressiveness, may be more pertinent to FGIDs because of the uncertainty of gastrointestinal symptoms and the need for flexibility in everyday life. Illnesses, like FGIDs, that are episodic and remitting may require families to implement consist...
Source: Journal of Pediatric Psychology - Category: Pediatrics Source Type: research