Psychiatric syptom level and family burden of mothers of children with cerebral palsy

Objective: This study was conducted to determine the psychiatric symptom level and family burden of mothers with children with cerebral palsy, and to examine the relationship between psychiatric symptoms and family burden. Method: This cross-sectional and correlational research study was conducted with mothers of children with 200 cerebral palsy registered in home health care units in Diyarbakır. Data were collected through face-to-face interviews. Sociodemographic Information Form, Brief Symptom Inventory and Family Burden Assessment Scale were used to collect data. Results: The mean age of the mothers participating in the study was 39.67±7.70 years. 98% of mothers are not working and 61.5% are illiterate. The mean age of the children is 12.13±6.89 years and 46.5% are girls and 53.5% are boys. The percentage of children with disabilities is 93.55±9.18. The total mean score of the mothers from the family burden assessment scale was 146, 00, and the mean scores of the brief symptom inventory sub-dimensions were found respectively as "Somatization" 6, "Obsessive Compulsive Disorder" 5, "Interpersonal Sensitivity" 4, "Depression" 4, "Anxiety Disorder" 5. A meaningful positive correlation was found between social burden, emotional burden and time requirement, which are sub-dimensions of mothers' family burden assessment scale, and brief symptom inventory (p˂0.05). Conclusion: It was observed that the mothers had high family burden, perceived inadequacy, emotional load and high time requirements, and showed symptoms in terms of somatization, OCD, interpersonal sensitivity, depression and anxiety disorders. Keywords: Cerebral Palsy, Family Burden, Psychiatric Symptoms, Mother, Nursing