Abstract
The psychosocial consequences for parents of children with MS have not been studied.
Objectives: to assess aspects of coping with family crisis and individual states of
distress in couples with a child with MS compared to couples of healthy children.
Methods: fifteen couples with a child with MS and 29 couples with healthy children
were assessed using self-administered scales on anxiety, depression, coping, marital
and family aspects, quality of life and MS knowledge. Results: parents of children
with MS were less satisfied with their parenting role and had a lower sense of parenting
competence than control parents. While their depression scores were higher than control
parents, they scored within the normal range. Mothers of children with MS were more
worried than fathers and were more likely to use diverse coping strategies. Less knowledge
of MS was correlated with less satisfaction with the couple relationship and with
the quality of communication. There was a correlation between limited knowledge about
the child's illness and the overall sense of competence as a parent. Conclusions:
lack of information about MS can impact family functioning, anxiety and parents' sense
of competency. Parents require support in becoming more knowledgeable about MS in
order to feel competent and satisfied in their role and to cope successfully.
Keywords
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Article info
Publication history
Published online: November 09, 2012
Accepted:
October 17,
2012
Received in revised form:
October 10,
2012
Received:
May 28,
2012
Footnotes
☆The study was supported by the Italian Multiple Sclerosis Foundation-FISM (Intramural Research Program 2011).
Identification
Copyright
© 2012 Elsevier B.V. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
