Impact of mothers with depression, schizophrenia or epilepsy on family functioning

Abstract

Objective To evaluate and compare the impact of mothers with depression, schizophrenia or epilepsy on the family function. Background Family is the most important context of an individual. The primary function of a family unit is to provide a setting for the development and maintenance of family members on the social, psychological and biological levels. Methods After approval of our ethics committee, this cross-sectional study was conducted among a total of 153 families of mothers with depression, schizophrenia and epilepsy (51 families for each group) who attended the Suez Canal University outpatient clinic. All patients were subjected to clinical interview for the diagnosis of major depressive disorder and schizophrenia according to Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders , 4th ed. criteria and Family Assessment Device (Arabic version). Results There was significant unhealthy family function of mother with depression compared with healthy functioning regarding problem solving (88.2%), communication (84.3%), roles (68.6%), affective responsiveness (62.7%) and behavior control domains (86.3%). There was a significantly higher unhealthy functioning in all domains [problem solving (88.2%), communication (96.1%), roles (76.5%), affective responsiveness (70.6%) and involvement (76.5%), behavior control (94.1%), and general functioning (72.5%)] in mothers with schizophrenia compared with healthy functioning. There was a significantly higher unhealthy functioning in all domains [problem solving (86.3%), communication (86.3%), roles (94.1%), affective responsiveness (72.5%) and involvement (72.5%), behavior control (92.2%), and general functioning (66.7%)] in mothers with epilepsy compared with healthy functioning. There were no statistically significant differences of unhealthy functioning in most of the domains in mothers with depression, schizophrenia, and epilepsy, except in the roles domain. Conclusion There was an increased unhealthy functioning in most of the domains in mothers with depression, schizophrenia and epilepsy compared with healthy functioning. There were no differences of unhealthy functioning in most of the domains in the mothers with depression, schizophrenia, and epilepsy, except in the roles domain.