Psychological Aspects of Parents and Developmental Profile of Children with Cerebral Palsy

Abstract

Background: Parents with cerebral palsy children have challenging situations which they have to cope with. An attempt has been made in this present paper to understand the link or correlation between psychological factors of parents (like stress and Quality of life) with the developmental quotient of children with Cerebral Palsy. Stress is a common factor affecting Quality of Life (QOL) in conditions that are chronic and impairing like Cerebral palsy. Objective: The present study was conducted to evaluate stress & QOL in Indian parents of children affected with Cerebral Palsy (CP). Sample: The recruited sample comprised father (N=11) and mother (N=19) of 30 children (17 male, 13 female) age range being from 1year-13 years affected by CP. Design: Tools: After taking the written informed consent from each parent, two questionnaires (Caregiver Stress Self-Assessment and WHOQOL-BREF) were provided. Result: Statistical techniques used to analyze the data were correlation and t-test. The results revealed that majority of the parents experienced stress (83%). A significant negative correlation was found between stress and QOL on all domains of QOL- physical (-.43), psychological (-.48), social (-.56) and environmental (-.50). A positive correlation was found between D.Q. /I.Q and QOL. Conclusion: The present study concludes that assessment of stress and QOL is important in routine clinical practice so that the well- being of parents of children affected with cerebral palsy can be enhanced. Keywords: Cerebral Palsy, Stress, Quality of Life, Parents