Children's Needs – Parenting Capacity - Digital Education Resource ...

Child development and parents’ responses – middle childhood 139Children whose parents suffer from mental illness, learning disability, parentaldrug or alcohol problems or who are in a violent relationship have an increasedrisk of medical problems, including injuries, convulsive disorders and increasedfrequency of hospitalisation. For example, children living with domestic violence orwith parental substance misuse are more likely than children who do not live in suchcircumstances to experience allergies and respiratory tract infections, psychosomaticcomplaints such as headaches and stomach aches, stomach disorders such as nauseaand diarrhoea, and sleep disturbances such as insomnia, nightmares and sleepwalking(Lewis and Bucholz 1991; Onyskiw 2003).Children of parents suffering mental health problems have an increased risk ofexperiencing depression and anxiety disorders (Tunnard 2004), although there isno evidence to suggest children’s physical health is affected (Somers 2007). A studyby Dave and colleagues (2008) found that when fathers suffered major depressiontheir children aged 4–6 years were more likely to demonstrate pro-social behaviouraldifficulties.The health of children of parents with learning disabilities may suffer because ofa lack of hygiene. In addition, health problems may not be recognised or adequatelydealt with.The school said that Steven [a boy aged 10 years] was coming into school verysmelly, dirty and that he had lice. He was also having dental problems and dentalappointments were not being kept.(Social worker, quoted in Cleaver and Nicholson 2007, p.61)Children may also be likely to suffer harm because when they have severe healthproblems, parental mental illness, learning disabilities, substance misuse and theeffects of domestic violence may result in parents not fully understanding theimportance of attending medical appointments and ensuring that instructions aresystematically carried out.There was a downward slide in her caring for the child – she was missing importantappointments and I was not getting access to the home. I was concerned aboutDanielle not getting the regular treatment she needed.(Health visitor’s report on Danielle aged 8 years living with her motherwho was depressed and had a serious drug problem, quoted in Cleaver et al.2007, p.86)Finally, children’s health problems may go unrecognised because schoolabsenteeism as a result of parenting disorders may mean routine school medicalsare missed.