Abstract
Chronic soiling and constipation is a complex multidimensional childhood difficulty, which has enormous psychological, social, emotional and cost implications. There is currently limited research examining how parents and children understand and adjust to this condition. The current research was therefore exploratory in nature and used a qualitative research design. It aimed to gain further understanding of parents’ experiences and understanding of having a child with chronic soiling and constipation problems, and it’s treatment. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with the primary carer’s of ten children, aged between 4 and 15 years old, who had a diagnosis of encopresis and had been referred to a tertiary child and adolescent mental health team. The data, in the form of verbatim transcripts were analysed using Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis (IPA) (Smith, 1996). Four main themes emerged that captured participants’ experiences; ‘searching for an explanation’, ‘making sense of the problem’, ‘perceived control’ and ‘impact of the problem’. Within each main theme further subordinate themes were identified which captured the diversity of participants’ experiences. The analysis highlighted the complex and dynamic processes involved in the development of parental understanding and casual attributions of the problem. There also appeared to be important relationships between parental understanding of the problem and their beliefs about treatment and perceptions of the child’s control over the problem. The results were considered in relation to existing literature, particularly in relation to concepts of uncertainty, causal attributions and hopelessness. The methodological strengths and weaknesses of the research were then discussed followed by consideration of the clinical implications of the findings and areas of future research.