Psychological distress and perceived support among Jordanian parents living with a child with cerebral palsy: a cross‐sectional study

Abstract

This study has implications for health professionals in terms of developing strategies for reducing parental stress. There are implications for policy to provide support for parents and to develop family-centred services. The findings will inform an intervention study to investigate multi-professional support.

Parental Stress and Social Support of Caregivers of Children With Cerebral Palsy

“…In addition to the behavioral problems, the presence of pain and sensory impairments in the child were also associated with a higher risk of clinical stress among parents of children with CP (Al-Gamal & Long, 2013). Similar findings were identified in the investigated sample, with presence of health problems in the children influencing the occurrence of clinical stress among the caregivers.…”

“…The lack of association between the Total Parenting Stress and Perceived Social Support indicators is considered an uncommon result in the literature (Al-Gamal & Long, 2013;Guyard et al, 2011). This finding may be explained by the constructs that ground the MOS-SS, given that this instrument investigates the respondents' perception of the availability of various types of support without considering the specific demands associated with parenthood.…”

“…According to the literature, caregivers of children with CP generally exhibit impairments in physical and mental health; however, there is little agreement regarding the relationship between such impairments and the child's degree of motor deficiency (Al-Gamal & Long, 2013;Byrne, Hurley, Daly, & Cunningham, 2010;Ribeiro, Sousa, Vandenberghe, & Porto, 2014). This lack of agreement suggests that other variables in addition to those directly related to the child and his or her disability influence the mutual adjustment between parents and children (Dantas et al, 2012;Glenn, Cunningham, Poole, Reeves, & Weindling, 2009;Guyard et al, 2011).…”

“…High levels of parental stress have been associated with impaired mental health, poorer quality of life, and dissatisfaction with the social support perceived by the parents or primary caregivers of children with CP (Al-Gamal & Long, 2013;Guyard et al, 2011). Social support seems to both prevent and attenuate stressful situations, and its absence can lead to feelings of abandonment, sadness, and anger, which can have negative repercussions for the family's experience in the face of disability (Polita & Tacla, 2014;Whittingham, Wee, Sanders, & Boyd, 2013).…”

Interventions of health education in mothers of children with cerebral palsy

“…An adequate social support offered to families of children with cerebral palsy seems to prevent and attenuate the negative impact and stress situations; their absence culminates in feelings of sadness, anger and abandonment, negatively affecting the family routine and the treatment of children 21 . When it comes to child care, families and caregivers have always been in the background 22 .…”