Increased Risk of Physical Punishment among Enuretic Children with Family History of Enuresis.

PURPOSE: Some parents blame their children for bedwetting and, therefore, punish them. This study aimed to assess the rate of punishment experienced by enuretic children and associated causative factors.

MATERIALS AND METHODS: A total of 87 children 6 to 15 years old with monosymptomatic enuresis were assessed individually. Parents answered the questions in the tolerance scale. The forms of punishment were classified as verbal, chastisement and physical aggression. Family history of enuresis was considered only when 1 or both parents had experienced enuresis.

RESULTS: Of the 35 girls and 52 boys with a mean ± SD age of 9.3 ± 2.3 years 67 had a family history of enuresis. Of the 67 parents 57 (85.0%) had a history of being punished due to enuresis. All children experienced some sort of verbal punishment. Children who had a family history of enuresis were more prone to being punished by physical aggression than those without such a family history (32 of 67 or 47.8% vs 4 of 20 or 20%, OR 3.7, 95% CI 1.1-12.1, p = 0.03). Punishment was found 3 times more frequently in girls than in boys (20 of 35 or 57.1% vs 16 of 52 or 30.8%, OR 3.0, 95% CI 1.2-7.3). Parents of 79 of the 87 children (90.8%) had high scores on the tolerance scale regardless of the history of enuresis.

CONCLUSIONS: Enuretic children are at a high risk for experiencing some kind of punishment. Children whose parents had enuresis are at risk for being physically punished. Parents should be taught about the involuntary nature of enuresis and the fact that no punishment would help improve the condition.