Table 2.
Distress Thermometer score, problem domain scores, and item scores of all participants, and subdivided in parents of children with (CC) and without (No CC) chronic conditions
| All participants N = 1421 | CC N = 287 | No CC N = 1134 | p | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Thermometer score | ||||
| Clinical (%) | 41.2 | 53.0 | 38.2 | <.0001 |
| Mean (SD) | 3.4 (2.7) | 4.2 (2.9) | 3.2 (2.7) | <.0001 |
| Median (range) | 3 (0–10) | 4 (0–10) | 2 (0–10) | <.0001 |
| Total problem scores, medians (range) | ||||
| Total of 5 problem domains | 4 (0–28) | 5 (0–26) | 3 (0–28) | <.0001 |
| Total with <2 years parenting | 5a (0–27) | 9c (1–21) | 5e (0–27) | .028 |
| Total with ≥2 years parenting | 4b (0–33) | 5d (0–28) | 3f (0–33) | <.0001 |
| Practical problems, median (range) | 1 (0–7) | 1 (0–6) | 0 (0–7) | .001 |
| Housing (%) | 5.0 | 5.9 | 4.8 | .420 |
| Work/study (%) | 24.8 | 21.6 | 25.6 | .164 |
| Finances/insurance (%) | 16.5 | 19.5 | 15.8 | .129 |
| Housekeeping (%) | 20.1 | 29.3 | 17.7 | <.0001 |
| Transport (%) | 5.1 | 8.0 | 4.3 | .011 |
| Child care/child supervision (%) | 9.7 | 15.7 | 8.2 | <.0001 |
| Leisure activities/relaxing (%) | 21.3 | 28.9 | 19.3 | <.0001 |
| Social problems, median (range) | 0 (0–4) | 0 (0–4) | 0 (0–4) | <.0001 |
| Dealing with (ex)partner (%) | 13.3 | 18.1 | 12.1 | .007 |
| Dealing with family (%) | 9.6 | 11.1 | 9.2 | .309 |
| Dealing with friends (%) | 3.0 | 3.8 | 2.8 | .372 |
| Interacting with your child(ren) (%) | 12.3 | 20.9 | 10.1 | <.0001 |
| Emotional problems, median (range) | 1 (0–9) | 1 (0–9) | 1 (0–9) | .001 |
| Controlling emotions (%) | 22.2 | 26.8 | 21.1 | .036 |
| Self-confidence (%) | 19.8 | 24.4 | 18.6 | .028 |
| Fears (%) | 9.4 | 11.1 | 9.0 | .264 |
| Depression (%) | 29.8 | 37.3 | 28.0 | .002 |
| Feeling tense or nervous (%) | 33.7 | 40.1 | 32.1 | .011 |
| Loneliness (%) | 7.3 | 12.2 | 6.1 | <.0001 |
| Feelings of guilt (%) | 13.8 | 15.7 | 13.3 | .300 |
| Use of substances (e.g., alcohol, drugs and/or medication) (%) | 3.0 | 3.5 | 2.8 | .554 |
| Intrusive/recurrent thoughts about a specific event (%) | 19.1 | 24.4 | 17.7 | .010 |
| Physical problems, median (range) | 1 (0–7) | 2 (0–7) | 1 (0–7) | <.0001 |
| Eating (%) | 10.1 | 13.2 | 9.3 | .045 |
| Weight (%) | 23.8 | 29.6 | 22.3 | .009 |
| Sleep (%) | 26.9 | 29.3 | 26.3 | .307 |
| Fatigue (%) | 52.1 | 56.8 | 51.0 | .078 |
| Out of shape/condition (%) | 22.4 | 31.7 | 20.1 | <.0001 |
| Pain (%) | 23.9 | 32.4 | 21.8 | <.0001 |
| Sexuality (%) | 10.3 | 11.8 | 9.9 | .326 |
| Cognitive problems, median (range) | 0 (0–2) | 0 (0–2) | 0 (0–2) | <.0001 |
| Concentration (%) | 17.2 | 25.1 | 15.2 | <.0001 |
| Memory (%) | 21.4 | 31.7 | 18.8 | <.0001 |
| Parenting problems <2 years, median (range) | 0a (0–6) | 0c (0–4) | 0e (0–6) | .544 |
| Feeling connected with your child (%) | 1.9 | 3.7 | 1.6 | .451 |
| Caring for your child (%) | 2.8 | 3.7 | 2.7 | .762 |
| Feeding your child (%) | 12.6 | 7.4 | 13.4 | .383 |
| Development of your child (%) | 6.5 | 11.1 | 5.9 | .304 |
| Following advice about treatment/giving medication (%) | 2.3 | 3.7 | 2.1 | .615 |
| Your child’s sleeping (%) | 23.4 | 25.9 | 23.0 | .737 |
| Behavior/crying of your child (%) | 17.3 | 18.5 | 17.1 | .857 |
| Parenting problems ≥2 years, median (range) | 0b (0–5) | 0d (0–5) | 0f (0–5) | <.0001 |
| Dealing with your child (%) | 12.0 | 17.4 | 10.5 | .002 |
| Dealing with the feelings of your child (%) | 11.6 | 20.2 | 9.2 | <.0001 |
| Talking about the disease/consequences with your child* (%) | 4.1 | 8.1 | 2.9 | <.0001 |
| Independence of your child (%) | 9.1 | 14.3 | 7.6 | .001 |
| Following advice about treatment/giving medication (%) | 4.8 | 10.5 | 3.3 | <.0001 |
| Additional questions | ||||
| Enough support from surroundings (%) | 90.2 | 80.8 | 92.6 | <.0001 |
| People react with a lack of understanding (%) | 13.4 | 23.7 | 10.8 | <.0001 |
| Do you have a (chronic) illness yourself (%) | 21.4 | 35.9 | 17.7 | <.0001 |
| Would like to talk to a professional about situation—yes/maybe (%) | 16.7 | 22.3 | 15.3 | .004 |
Mean thermometer score was analyzed with t test. Median thermometer score, total problem scores, and problem domain scores were analyzed with Mann–Whitney U tests. The presence of a clinical thermometer score and of reported problems (individual items) were analyzed with Chi-square tests. Significant differences at p < .05 are presented in bold
* Parents could also indicate that ‘talking about the disease/consequences with your child’ was not applicable. This was rated as 0: not a problem
a N = 214 (19 parents did not complete this domain)
b N = 1176 (12 parents did not complete this domain)
c N = 27 (2 parents did not complete this domain)
d N = 258
e N = 187 (17 parents did not complete this domain)
f N = 918 (12 parents did not complete this domain)