The Burden of Caring for Children with Emotional or Conduct Disorders

Table 1

Burden and stigma experienced by parents of children with conduct disorder and/or emotional disorders.

Burden and stigma items	CD only	ED only	CD and ED
	%	%	%
Child’s problems kept parent from doing things socially with the child
To a great extent	20.1	8.4	22.9
To some extent	32.5	23.4	32.0
Not at all	47.4	68.2	45.1
Child’s problems disrupted parent's social and leisure activities
To a great extent	15.8	10.6	24.0
To some extent	34.3	28.6	36.9
Not at all	49.8	60.9	39.1
Child's difficulties have caused embarrassment
Yes	46.2	10.6	46.3
No	53.8	89.4	53.7
Child's problems made relationship with partner*
Stronger	13.9	19.2	15.2
More strained	45.6	19.1	60.4
No Difference	40.5	61.8	24.4
Child’s problems caused difficulties with other family members
Yes	35.3	14.2	34.8
No	64.7	85.8	65.2
Child’s problems made partner’s relationship with other children more difficult*
Stronger	3.6	16.5	6.1
More difficult	37.6	18.5	45.3
No difference	47.7	56.3	33.4
No other children	11.1	8.8	15.2
Parent has felt disapproved of or avoided because of the child’s difficulties
Yes	33.6	16.6	44.1
No	66.4	83.4	55.9
Child’s problems made relationship with other children
Stronger	6.4	10.7	10.5
More difficult	29.8	16.0	46.2
No difference	57.1	66.3	40.9
No other children	6.7	7.0	2.3
Child’s problem put a strain on a previous relationship and was part of the; reason the relationship broke up*
To a great extent	10.4	5.9	17.0
To some extent	15.2	5.1	12.1
Not at all	63.3	79.8	64.2
No previous relationship	3.4	0.0	0.0
Problem started since relationship	7.7	9.2	6.6
Child’s problems caused difficulties with parent’s own relationships with friends
Yes	17.7	8.6	31.3
No	82.3	91.4	68.7
Base	312	306	90