Suicidal ideation in mothers of asthmatic children and adolescents in a subspecialty outpatient practice

Abstract

We aimed to investigate prevalence and factors associated with Suicide ideation (SI) in mothers of asthmatic children. This cross-sectional study included 362 dyads of mothers and children with asthma aged 2 to 14 years who attended two pediatric outpatient clinics in Brazil. We assessed the presence of SI (Self-Report Questionnaire-20), the occurrence of stressful events and maternal social support. The prevalence of SI was 8.6%. Low maternal education, exposure to serious illness, and low perception of social support in its affective–social interaction dimension remained significantly associated with SI in the final model. Thus, life stressors, social support and low maternal education accounted for most of the variation in prevalence of maternal SI. There were no effects of child asthma severity on maternal SI in this study.