Parenting and childhood atopic dermatitis: a cross-sectional study of relationships between parenting behaviour, skin care management, and disease severity in young children

Background The development of child behaviour and parenting difficulties is understood to undermine treatment outcomes for children with atopic dermatitis. Past research has reported on correlates of child behaviour difficulties. However, few research studies have sought to examine parenting confidence and practices in this clinical group. Objectives To examine relationships between child, parent, and family variables, parent-reported and directly-observed child and parent behaviour, parents’ self-efficacy with managing difficult child behaviour, self-reported parenting strategies, and disease severity. Design Cross-sectional study design. Participants Parent-child dyads (N\ua0=\ua064) were recruited from the dermatology clinic of a paediatric tertiary referral hospital in Brisbane, Australia. Children had a diagnosis of atopic dermatitis of ≥3\ua0months and no other chronic health conditions except asthma, allergic rhinitis, or allergy. Methods Parents completed self-report measures assessing child behaviour; parent depression, anxiety, and stress; parenting conflict and relationship satisfaction; self-efficacy with managing difficult child behaviour, and use of ineffective parenting strategies; and self-efficacy for managing atopic dermatitis, and performance of atopic dermatitis management tasks. The Scoring Atopic Dermatitis index was used to assess disease severity. Routine at-home treatment sessions were coded for parent and child behaviour. Results Pearson's and Spearman's correlations identified relationships (p\ua