Coping Styles of Mothers of Children with Chronic Diseases and Their Relationship with Psychiatric Symptoms: A Preliminary Report Kronik Hastalığı Olan Çocukların Annelerinde Baş Etme Becerilerinin Psikiyatrik Belirtiler ile İlişkisi: Bir Ön Çalışma

Objective: Chronic disease causes psychological problems in parents as well as children. Coping styles of parents can affect the adjustment of children to disease. The aim of this study was to study the relation between the coping style of the mothers of children with chronic disease and the psychiatric symptoms of the mothers and children. Material and Methods: Twenty-nine inpatients aged 4-18 years with chronic disease who were referred for psychiatric evaluation from Hacettepe University Children’s Hospital in 2007 were included in this study. A clinical psychiatric evaluation based on DSM-IV was performed separately on the children and mothers. A sociodemographic form was completed by the researchers. All mothers were asked to complete the Symptom Check List – 90 – Revised (SCL- 90-R), Child Behavior Checklist for Ages 4-18 (CBCL) and COPE. Results: Girls made up 51.7% of the children. The median age was 11.08±4.2 years and 86% had a psychiatric diagnosis. The most common psychiatric disorders were adjustment disorder (31%), major depression (31%) and somatoform disorder (10.3%). There was a strong correlation between SCL-90-R and CBCL total score, and the internalizing and externalizing scores (r=0.76, r=0.79, r=0.64, p<0.001, respectively). COPE maladaptive subscales were strongly correlated with the CBCL total score (r=0.56, p=0.009). Conclusion: Adaptation of the mothers to disease and psychopathology in the mothers may effect the adaptation process of children to chronic illness.