Factors associated with the resilience of school-aged children with atopic dermatitis

Aim: To identify the factors associated with the resilience of school-aged children with atopic dermatitis.

Background: Atopic dermatitis, a common chronic skin condition in childhood with an increasing incidence rate, can impose many challenges to children and their families.

Design: Survey.

Methods: The participants were 102 children, 7-15 years old, who were diagnosed with atopic dermatitis at least six months prior to data collection. The instruments used were a self-report questionnaire on the resilience of children suffering a chronic illness, the Childrearing Behavior Questionnaire to examine parenting practices and the Personal Relationship Measurement to evaluate relationships with friends and teachers. Descriptive, Pearson correlation and multiple regression analyses were used to analyse the data.

Results: There was statistically significant relationship between resilience and duration of illness (r = -0·312, p < 0·05), disease severity (r = -0·325, p < 0·05), the warmth-acceptance of mothers (r = 0·384, p < 0·01) and fathers (r = 0·363, p < 0·01) and relationship with friends (r = 0·343, p < 0·01) and teachers (r = 0·349, p < 0·01). There was no significant relationship between resilience and age, academic achievement, economic status, mother's age and education, parental rejection-restriction and permissiveness non-intervention variables. In multiple regression analysis, duration of illness (β = -0·392, p < 0·01) and relationships with friends (β = 0·300, p < 0·01) were identified as significant variables affecting resilience.

Conclusions: School-aged children with atopic dermatitis who reported a shorter duration of illness, lower severity score and better relationships with parents, friends and teachers showed a higher resilience score than their counterparts. A comprehensive intervention programme for children with atopic dermatitis to promote the development of positive relationships with parents, friends and teachers is recommended.

Relevance to clinical practice: The careful nursing intervention to build a positive relationship with parents, friends and teachers would be helpful to enhance the resilience of school-aged children having atopic dermatitis. Considering social context of school-aged children having chronic skin condition should be enclosed to set a nursing plan.