Trajectories of well-being in children with gastrointestinal conditions and their parents during the first three years of the COVID-19 pandemic

Youth with gastrointestinal (GI) conditions often experience higher rates of mental health concerns, social challenges, and family dysfunction compared to healthy peers. It is important to investigate how these children and their parents fared during the COVID-19 pandemic. This study aims to identify trajectories of well-being and predictors of the trajectories during the COVID-19 pandemic for children with GI conditions and their parents. Biopsychosocial survey data was collected three times from children (<i>n</i> = 55) with irritable bowel syndrome, inflammatory bowel disease, and celiac disease and one of their parents (<i>n</i> = 58) from September 2020 - December 2022. Latent variables of well-being were constructed, and trajectories were identified with visual and statistical methods. Binomial regression identified predictors of resilience trajectories. Participants fell into five trajectory groups: resilience, improving, worsening, chronic, and time 2 variation. Most children and parents were in the resilience trajectory group. Exploratory analyses revealed a strong parent-child relationship predicted which children belonged to the resilience trajectory, and low isolation predicted which parents belonged to the resilience trajectory. Clinicians should assess mental health concerns at each visit; well-being fluctuated throughout the height of the pandemic. Leveraging a strong parent-child relationship could help support child resilience responses at times of high stress.