Date of Award

Spring 5-2012

Degree Type

Dissertation

Degree Name

Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)

Department

Curriculum, Instruction, and Special Education

Committee Chair

Hollie G. Filce

Committee Chair Department

Curriculum, Instruction, and Special Education

Committee Member 2

Richard Mohn

Committee Member 2 Department

Educational Studies and Research

Committee Member 3

Marge Crowe

Committee Member 3 Department

Curriculum, Instruction, and Special Education

Committee Member 4

Dana Thames

Committee Member 5

John Bishop

Abstract

Children and youth with special health care needs are impacted both physically and psychologically by their medical condition. Furthermore, parents of children with special health care needs experience increased symptoms of anxiety related to their child’s condition. Literature suggests the negative impact may be lessened by providing psychosocial family-centered supports. This study investigated the anxiety levels of children with bowel and/or bladder dysfunction and their parents, finding the relationships of anxiety among mothers and child/youth, as well as mothers and fathers. No significant relationship was found among fathers and child/youth. Further, it explored the impact of medical, educational, and psychosocial factors t of proximity to specialized medical care, presence of a medical home, income, school absences, formal educational planning, professional support, and non-professional support as potential predictors of child/youth and parental anxiety. Results indicated income, school absences, and gender of parents had a significant impact on the anxiety scores of the parents, but not significant to the child’s anxiety scores. Non-professional support was found to be potential factor in relation to parent anxiety.

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