Maternal attitude as a resource for overcoming the psychological consequences of a severe form of an orthopedic disease

Abstract

Introduction. Idiopathic scoliosis in a surgical pathology stage creates a difficult situation in the life of sick adolescents. There may be signs of marked neuropsychic stress, fear, helplessness, and behavioral deviations in adolescents suffering from the scoliotic disease. Hence, it is important to study the factors of protection and external adaptation resources that are crucial for coping with psychological difficulties in adolescence. One such resource is the maternal attitude, including emotional support.
 Material and methods. Sixty women were enrolled in the study, 30 of whom were mothers of patients of a pediatric orthopedic clinic who had been diagnosed as having idiopathic scoliosis of 3–4°, and 30 were mothers of adolescents without disorders of the musculoskeletal system. The method used the A.Ya. Varga and V.V. Stolin diagnostics of parental attitude, the SF-36 quality of life questionnaire, and C.D. Spielberg’s self-evaluation technique for determining the level of situational and personal anxiety (adaptation of Y.L. Khanin). Average statistics were calculated, the statistical significance of differences in comparisons was calculated by performing Student’s test, and correlation analysis was performed by calculating Spearman’s correlation coefficients.
 Results. The attitudes of the parents of the healthy adolescents and those of adolescents with idiopathic scoliosis were characterized by a predominance of positive feelings and a desire to provide emotional support to the adolescent proportionally while recognizing the difficulties in the child’s life situation. A mother’s positive attitude toward her child under treatment in a surgical clinic for correction of a severe spinal deformity may be distorted by her anxiety and depressive feelings, which may reduce the mother’s ability to provide emotional support in a situation difficult for the child. An important component in the system of psychological care for adolescents with idiopathic scoliosis may be professional psychological support focused on harmonization of child–parent relations.