Coping styles in parents of children with Thalassemia in West Bengal

Abstract

Background: Thalassemia is stress inducing, and the parents of the affected child develop a variety of coping strategies in response to that stress. Objective: The objective of this study was to find coping styles adopted by parents of thalassemic children and to identify factors associated with their coping. Materials and Methods: This cross-sectional survey was conducted in 2016–2017 involving 96 randomly selected parents of thalassemic children attending the Thalassemia Clinic of Bankura Sammilani Medical College and Hospital. Data were collected via interview using predesigned questionnaire and Brief-COPE inventory. Analyses were done estimating mean and proportion and using Pearson correlation coefficient (r), unpaired t-test, analysis of variance, and multiple linear regressions. Results: Two third of participants were mothers (66.7%) accompanying thalassemic children. Majority of them were aged within 21–30 years (55.2%), Hindu (84.4%), rural inhabitants (96.9%) and belonged to backward class (60.4%). Majority (72.9%) were from joint family of lower socioeconomic strata (94.8%). The age of thalassemic children was 80.47 ± 42.49 (mean±sd) months. Most of them were male (53.1%). Majority of thalassemic children was born in first birth order (63.0%) and diagnosed before attaining first birthday (71.0%). More than 60% of the participants were using acceptance coping “a lot.” The most commonly used coping strategies were active coping, acceptance, planning, and religion. In multivariable analyses, overall coping was found to increase by 0.331 on every unit decrease of age at diagnosis of thalassemia of children and to decrease by 0.116 unit on every unit increase of age of respondents. Conclusion: Acceptance coping was used effectively rather than behavioral disengagement, which suggests that a positive attitude toward stress is present but needs to be better handled. Counseling and psychotherapy for parents of thalassemic children can be provided through an intervention program.