Abstract
A child’s illness or disability is a considerable stressor for the mother and a risk factor for many psychological problems and somatic diseases. The purpose of the study was to (1) assess the prevalence of poor SRH and pain, (2) compare self-rated health and pain, (3) and identify the determinants of SRH and pain in mothers of healthy children and children requiring ambulatory observation or hospitalization. The study covered 234 mothers of both healthy and unhealthy children who required outpatient observation or treatment at an intensive care unit, neonatal intensive care unit, or oncology department. To analyse the variables obtained, the following tools were used: Self-Rated Health, Numerical Rating, Interpersonal Support Evaluation List, Peritraumatic Distress Inventory, Modified Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale, and Impact of Effects Scale—Revised. The self-assessment of health in mothers of healthy children and those in need of outpatient observation or hospitalization at units with various specialities differed in a statistically significant way. The severity of the average and maximum pain among mothers of healthy children and those with a history of disease differed statistically significantly. Poor SRH co-occurred with severe maximum pain in all of the examined groups. Both in the control group and the group of mothers of children requiring outpatient observation, poor SRH co-occurred with a high level of anxiety. Only in the control group was a correlation found between the severity of the average and maximum pain and the severity of anxiety and depression symptoms.
Highlights
A child’s illness or disability is a strong stressor for the parents, especially the mother, and a risk factor for many psychological problems and somatic diseases
The mothers of healthy children, more often than the others, manifested very good or good health (n = 53; 86.89%) and a lower severity of average (NRS = 2.07 ± 1.67) and maximum (NRS = 3.19 ± 2.00) pain felt in the last week
The mothers of healthy children are characterized by the lowest intensity of these variables, the mothers of children requiring outpatient observation show slightly higher intensity, and the mothers of children requiring hospitalization show the highest
Summary
A child’s illness or disability is a strong stressor for the parents, especially the mother, and a risk factor for many psychological problems and somatic diseases. An existing severe illness or one that occurred in the past have been shown to be associated with an increased incidence of acute stress disorder (ASD), post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), increased anxiety, or depression in mothers [1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10]. Health problems and the disability of the child are associated with somatic diseases and chronic pain, with musculoskeletal disorders being the most commonly reported in mothers of children with physical disabilities [15,16].
Sign-in/Register to view highlights & summary Sign-in/Register to access full text options 
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a callMore From: International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health
Disclaimer: All third-party content on this website/platform is and will remain the property of their respective owners and is provided on "as is" basis without any warranties, express or implied. Use of third-party content does not indicate any affiliation, sponsorship with or endorsement by them. Any references to third-party content is to identify the corresponding services and shall be considered fair use under The CopyrightLaw.
