Parenting stress mediates the association between cyanotic congenital heart disease and internalising problems in children and adolescents

Children and adolescents with cyanotic congenital heart disease have been found to be at an increased risk of internalising problems. The underlying mechanisms, however, remain uncertain.

To examine the association between cyanotic congenital heart disease and internalising problems and assess whether parenting stress mediates this association.

The study sample was 699 children and adolescents (aged 2–17 years) with congenital heart disease (253 with cyanotic congenital heart disease and 446 with acyanotic congenital heart disease) in Taiwan. The Child Behavior Checklist and the Parenting Stress Index were used to assess internalising problems and parenting stress, respectively. A series of multiple regression models was conducted using the SPSS PROCESS procedure to test the association between types of congenital heart disease and internalising problems and the mediating role of parenting stress. A bootstrapping approach was applied to determine the significance of mediation.

Compared with acyanotic congenital heart disease, cyanotic congenital heart disease was associated with increased levels of internalising problems (B=2.52, P<0.01), and this association was mediated by parenting stress (B=0.97, 95% bias-corrected bootstrap confidence interval 0.24, 1.75). In particular, parents of children with cyanotic congenital heart disease reported significantly more parenting stress compared with parents of children with acyanotic congenital heart disease (B=4.63, P<0.01), which contributed to elevated levels of internalising problems in the offspring (B=0.21, P<0.001).

Cyanotic congenital heart disease conferred risks for internalising problems in children and adolescents, and this association was mediated by parenting stress. Interventions to decrease internalising problems in children and adolescents with cyanotic congenital heart disease may be more effective by targeting parenting stress.