Quality of Life in Parents of Children with Cerebral Palsy: Is it Influenced by the Child's Behaviour?

Abstract

The aims of the present study were: to examine the quality of life (QOL) of parents of children with cerebral palsy (CP) and to establish the possible effect of behaviour problems on their QOL. One-hundred children with CP, aged between 4 and 10 years, and both their parents were included in the study. Both parents completed the WHOQOL-BREF, to assess their QOL. A sample of 60 parents of healthy children was used as control group. The primary caregiver also completed the CHILD BEHAVIOUR CHECKLIST (CBCL). Parents of children with CP showed lower scores on physical and psychological domains than the control group on QOL. In the psychological domain the mothers of children with hemiplegia had the lowest scores. The mothers reported lower scores than the fathers for the physical domain in the group of children with diplegia and quadriplegia and for the psychological domain in the group of children with hemiplegia. Children with hemiplegia showed externalizing scores at CBCL higher than the other groups, that could explain the poorer QOL scores of their mothers. In conclusions our results provide useful information on the QOL in families with different forms of CP, useful in planning interventions for the family of children with CP.

Quality of Life of Parents of Children with Intellectual Disabilities in Croatia

“…Mothers of children with other forms of disabilities also have lower QOL. Romeo et al (2010) found that the QOL of mothers of children with cerebral palsy is lower than fathers'. Also, the publication IASSIDD (2014) states that mothers of children with disabilities are the ones who report increased level of stress and poorer physical and mental health.…”

Quality of Life in Mothers of Children with Cerebral Palsy

“…Mothers of children with diffi culties had signifi cantly more negative emotional conditions and more symptoms of depression 14 because they had lack of positive feelings such as joy, pleasure, loveliness, pride and fulfi llment of hope 20 . It was found that over years, parents of children with cerebral palsy, in comparison to parents of healthy children, more often complained of experiencing severe and chronic stress, emotional and cognitive problems, as well as numerous somatic diffi culties [21][22][23][24][25] . Mothers of children with cerebral palsy are exposed to psychological pressure, are under the impact of stress and depression, are worried for their child's future, most of their time spend on the child's nutrition, health, treatment, rehabilitation, are subjected to financial burdens (transport, child care, therapy, providing adaptive equipment and modifi cations in the house) 26 , which causes decline in the quality of life of mothers (both physically and psychologically), whereas mothers of healthy children have more free time, are more involved in social activities, entertainment and work 27 .…”

Utility‐based quality of life in mothers of children with behaviour problems: A population‐based study

“…The relationship between child significant general developmental delay (e.g. high‐functioning autism, speech impairment, cerebral palsy) and parents’ HRQoL has been reported in previous studies . These reported that mothers with children who had significant general developmental delay had poorer mental health and lower HRQoL.…”

“…Similarly, Rudolph et al found that mothers whose children have a speech impairment experience poorer HRQoL . Therefore, a child's disability or profound developmental delay may influence a mother's wellbeing and such mothers are expected to experience poorer mental health and lower HRQoL . However, children's broader behavioural problems may likewise have an effect on maternal HRQoL, over and above the effects of a specific condition .…”