Psychological Characteristics of Mothers of Children With Cerebral Palsy

Abstract

The aim of the study was to determine the psychological characteristics of mothers of children with cerebral palsy. The study included a sample of 30 respondents. The sample consisted of mothers of children with cerebral palsy, chronologically aged 25 to 60. The research was conducted at the Centre for Children with Multiple Disabilities “Koraci Nade”. For the purpose of checking the set research aim, Symptom ChecklistSCL-90-R, consisting of a list of 90 particles (problems), was applied, and the task was to assess the respondent's anxiety about each of the aforementioned problems over the past week (e.g., headaches, tension or anxiety, excessive worrying). The survey data were processed using the parametric statistics method. Central tendency measures, dispersion measures were calculated, and a tabular presentation of the results was done. Based on the results of the research, it can be concluded that the mothers of children with cerebral palsy have the most pronounced problems in areas of somatization, depression, obsessive-compulsive disorders, as well as anxiety.

Prevalence of depression, anxiety, and substance‐related disorders in parents of children with cerebral palsy: a systematic review

“…S1). Table SIV (online supporting information) shows the number of articles in the databases before the application of the inclusion and exclusion criteria. It also describes the search syntax used in each of the databases.…”

“…Overall, the articles studied 1264 mothers and 105 fathers of children with CP, applying questionnaires and/or interviews about their children's condition and mental health status. Five studies involved control populations, four with 309 mothers of typically developing children and one with 171 mothers of children with other diseases. The article data can be found in summary form in Table SI.…”

“…All these studies included volunteer parents of whom 95 per cent were female, and eight of the 14 articles had samples made up exclusively of mothers. Among the six articles that involved fathers, only one compared the rates of depression among parents and concluded that 95.7 per cent of mothers and 83.3 per cent of fathers had some degree of depression, but there was no statistical significance in this difference . The article does not provide the individual scores of the mental disorders scales.…”

“…In three of the 14 studies, it was possible to identify two fully comparable variables: the rate of depression among mothers of children with CP and the rate of depression in mothers of typically developing children. Using data from three studies that aimed to determine the prevalence of depression in mothers of children with CP, it was possible to increase the sample and verify that 52.74 per cent of the 182 mothers of children with CP and 20.77 per cent of the 207 mothers of typically developing children presented symptoms of depression.…”

Functional Status of the Children with Cerebral PalsyAnd Their Mothers’ Psychological Status: A Cross-sectional Study

“…13 In another study significant psychopathology was found in 90% of mothers 14 Depression, anxiety, somatization and obsessivecompulsive disorders were the most detected problems. 14,15 It was found that depression and anxiety were higher in mothers of children with CP when compared with healthy children's mothers. 16,17 The depression levels of the mothers were positively correlated with the child's GMFCS score and negatively correlated with the WeeFIM score of child with CP.…”