Does IBD affect the way the children function within their families?
Previous research has shown that children with IBD have more problems interacting with their families and there is more family dysfunction. “My research has been mixed on that,” says Mackner. “I used a questionnaire that measures communication, behavior management and how well the family gets along with each of the members in general. I found that families with a child with IBD have poorer communication than healthy families, but that was the only difference.” Mackner also found that the children who had better family functioning also had better behavioral/emotional functioning, too. So that would be an important area to target in order to help children with IBD. Why do children with IBD often have trouble in a social setting? They often have abdominal pains, and may not feel like doing activities as often as other children. They also often need to be within close proximity of a bathroom, so a lot of times they will limit their activities. That rules out a lot of school-related and soc
