Mental distress in mothers of child psychiatric patients.

Full Abstract

OBJECTIVE:
To determine whether caring for a child with mental health issues could lead to mental distress among mothers.

DESIGN:
Cross-sectional study.

PLACE AND DURATION:
Outpatient Clinics of The Aga Khan University Hospital and PNS Shifa Hospital, Karachi, from January to June 2005.

PATIENTS AND METHODS:
A total of 238 consecutive mothers bringing their children to child psychiatric and pediatric clinics were recruited over a 6-month period. As per inclusion criteria, 106 mothers of child psychiatric patients were compared to 132 mothers taken from pediatric clinics. They were asked to fill out a psychiatric screening instrument (WHO SRQ-20). Mothers' mental distress (score>or=10 on SRQ-20) and other potential risk or protective factors were measured.

RESULTS:
Mental distress among mothers determined by WHO SRQ-20 was associated with their child attending a psychiatric clinic (odds ratio 2.51, 95% confidence interval 1.38-4.51). This association remained significant for age of mother being less than 30 years. No significant association was found with the number of children and duration of marriage.

CONCLUSION:
Mental distress among mothers is associated with the child having psychiatric problems. These mothers may represent a group who are at higher risk of depression. Early recognition and treatment of mental health problems in mothers may help reduce psychiatric morbidity in children.

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Author information

Author/s: Syed, Ehsan Ullah (EU); Zuberi, Saman Iqbal (SI);

Affiliation: Department of Psychiatry, The Aga Khan University, Karachi, Pakistan. ehsan.syed(-atsign-)aku.edu

Journal and publication information

Publication Type: Comparative Study; Journal Article

Journal: Journal of the College of Physicians and Surgeons--Pakistan : JCPSP (J Coll Physicians Surg Pak), published in Pakistan. (Language: eng)

Reference: 2006-Jun; vol 16 (issue 6) : pp 416-9

Dates: Created 2006/06/21; Completed 2006/10/06; Revised 2006/11/15;

PMID: 16787620, status: MEDLINE (last retrieval date: 12/26/2008)

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MeSH headings (categories)

This article was linked to the MESH Headings shown below.

Humans
Marriage
Mental Disorders
Mothers - psychology
Stress, Psychological
Time Factors

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