Long-term psychological distress in parents of child survivors of severe meningococcal disease

Abstract

Parents of child survivors of SMD experience profound and prolonged psychological distress after discharge. Future interventions should focus on follow-up care for this population to help them re-adjust after this stressful event.

The mental health of Australian mothers and fathers of young children at risk of disability

“…[2][3][4][5][6][7][8][9][10] As noted above, maternal mental health has been identified as a significant public health issue, [15][16][17]20 partly due to the association between maternal mental health and the well-being of children. 16,[18][19][20][21] The latter issue is particularly relevant to mothers supporting disabled children.…”

“…These include: child factors such as age, gender, type of disability, caregiving 'burden', the presence of externalising behaviour problems and emotional disorders; parental factors such as personality traits and coping styles; and social factors such as marital harmony, social support and socio-economic position. [1][2][3][4][5][6][7][8][9][10]12,13,22,23 While relatively extensive, the existing literature is flawed on three counts. First, the majority of studies are based on small, unrepresentative convenience samples.…”

“…cancer, epilepsy). [1][2][3][4][5][6][7][8][9][10][11] Elevated rates have been reported across a range of social and cultural contexts including minority ethnic communities in high-income economies 4,7,12 and majority ethnic communities in middle-income economies. 1,13,14 The association between child disability and maternal distress is of particular concern as maternal mental health has been identified as a significant public health issue because of its association with well-being, health and role functioning, including less-thanoptimal parenting practices associated with poorer child outcomes.…”

Parents' Experience of the Transition with their Child from a Pediatric Intensive Care Unit (PICU) to the Hospital Ward: Searching for Comfort Across Transitions

“…Mothers with children who had ICU-related morbidity had higher levels of PTSD than those who did not, and of all those interviewed, six parent couples had a diagnosis of PTSD (Bronner, et al). Ehrlich et al (2005) studied 192 parents of children who survived severe meningococcal disease and were in PICU. The parents were assessed for psychological distress up to 36 months after their child's discharge from hospital.…”

Prevention of rare diseases: how revolutionary techniques can help vulnerable individuals—the example of serogroup B meningococcal infection

“…More than one third of survivors of serogroup B disease will experience other lifelong deficits such as psychological disorders, decreased IQ, digit amputations, minor or unilateral hearing loss and minor communication deficits [Viner et al 2012]. The psychosocial burden of IMD is also high for families: parents of children with severe episodes of IMD report psychological distress for months and even years [Ehrlich et al 2005].…”