The relationship between nurse support perceived by mothers of hospitalized children and hospital anxiety and depression levels

Objective: The aim of this study is to examine the relationship between the level of support received by mothers of children aged 1 month to 2 years hospitalized in the hospital from nurses and the level of hospital anxiety and depression. Material and Methods: This study was conducted using a descriptive and correlational design. The study was conducted with 346 mothers of children aged 1 month to 2 years who were hospitalized at the Children's Hospital of Etlik City Hospital. The research data were collected between April 2 and October 2, 2024. Data were collected using the Child and Mother Information Form, Nurse Parent Support Tool (NPST), and Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale (HADS). Descriptive statistics, Mann-Whitney U test for two independent groups, and Kruskal-Wallis analysis for more than two groups were used in the analysis of the study. Spearman correlation test was used to analyze the relationship between scale scores. A value of p<0.05 was considered statistically significant. Results: In the study, the mean total NPST score was 79.73±17.85; the mean HADS-anxiety score was 9.75±4.40, and the mean HADS-depression score was 8.16±4.05. There was a statistically significant difference in the quality of care support scores of the NPST subscales according to the mother's education level (p=0.023). There was a statistically significant difference in the emotional support scores of the NPST subscales according to the place of residence (p=0.013). There was a statistically significant difference in the HADS-anxiety scores of mothers according to the presence of additional chronic diseases in children (p=0.005). There was a statistically significant difference in the depression subscale scores of mothers according to the presence of additional chronic diseases in children (p=0.026). A very weak negative statistically significant relationship was found between HADS-anxiety scores and information and communication support, emotional support, respect support, quality care, and NPST – total scores (p<0.05). A very weak, statistically significant negative correlation was found between HADS-depression scores and information and communication support, emotional support, respect support, quality care provision, and NPST – total scores (p<0.05). Conclusion: The study found that there was a linear relationship between the nursing support perceived by mothers of children aged 1 month to 2 years hospitalized in the hospital and the levels of hospital anxiety and depression. As the level of nursing parental support perceived by mothers increased, the levels of hospital anxiety and depression decreased. It is recommended that nurses increase the support they provide to mothers in order to reduce the anxiety and depression levels of mothers with children aged 1 month to 2 years hospitalized in the hospital. Keywords: Anxiety, Depression, Hospitalized child, Mothers, Nurse, Support.