[Mental health of mothers with children afflicted with psychiatric disorders comparison with control group]

ABSTRACT

In this project, the mental health status of mothers with children afflicted with psychiatric disorders was compared with that of the mothers of children without psychological complaints. 57 mothers of children afflicted with psychiatric disorders and 56 mothers of children without psychological complaints were selected as the subjects of the study via available sampling. The subjects from the two groups were matched in terms of some demographic variables. To collect data the 28-question version of General Health Questionnaire was used. Data were analyzed via multivariate analysis of variance. The mean scores of mothers of children with psychiatric disorders were higher than those of the mothers of children with no psychological complaints in the subscales of somatic syndrome, anxiety syndrome, social functioning, and depressive syndrome; the difference was more considerable in anxiety syndrome. The mothers of children afflicted with psychiatric disorders experience more depression and anxiety, lower social functioning and physical health than mothers of children with no psychological complaints