Correlates of Resilience in Families of Children With Dextro-Transposition of the Great Arteries

Abstract

Introduction: There is limited evidence in the literature of positive adaptive processes, such as resilience, in families of children with congenital heart disease. This study aimed to describe resilience in families of children with dextro-Transposition of the Great Arteries (d-TGA) in comparison to children with Ventricular Septal Defect (VSD), as well as to investigate associations between family resilience and child, parent, and family characteristics. Methods: This cross-sectional study included 47 families of children with d-TGA (mean±SD age: 9.4±2.5 years) and 26 families of children with a repaired VSD (mean±SD age: 8.7±2.3 years) born between January 2008 and December 2017. All children underwent surgery in infancy at the Queensland Paediatric Cardiac Service. The Walsh Family Resilience Questionnaire, a standardised 32-item scale, was used to assess family resilience. Results: There was no statistically significant difference in resilience scores among families of children with d-TGA and VSD (mean±SD: 3.9±0.7 vs 4.2±0.5; p=0.08). After adjusting for cardiac diagnostic group (d-TGA and VSD), greater family resilience was associated with greater perceived social support (ß=0.60, p<0.001), parental wellbeing (ß=0.27, p=0.01), and family health risk (ß=0.19, p=0.04), accounting for 51% of variance in family resilience scores. Conclusion: Families of children with d-TGA report comparable levels of resilience to families of children with repaired VSD. Opportunities to foster social support and strategies to improve wellbeing are recommended to promote family resilience. Replicating current findings with larger sample size and prospective longitudinal design is warranted.