Beta
22011

Coping Strategies of Mothers of Children with Cardiac Problems

Article

Last updated: 03 Jan 2025

Subjects

-

Tags

-

Abstract

Background: Assessment of coping strategies is important in planning of health education programs to enhance coping. Objective: The aim of the present work was to assess the knowledge and attitude of mothers concerning cardiac problems, to assess the coping strategies of mothers of children with cardiac problems, and to identify some predictors of the coping strategies. Methods: A cross sectional study of 187 mothers of children with cardiac problems who attended the cardiology school health insurance clinic of Sporting Student's Hospital in Alexandria with their children within a period of one month was conducted. Every mother was subjected to the modified Jalowiec coping scale to assess the coping strategies. Knowledge and attitude of the mothers were assessed through a pre-designed interviewing questionnaire. Results: The results showed marked variability in correct responses to various statements about cardiac problems. However, most of mothers showed poor knowledge (87.17%)and about half of them (46.0%) showed negative attitude. These figures were significantly higher among mothers of children with congenital heart defects (CHD) than among those whose children suffer from rheumatic heart disease (RHD). The most commonly used coping method was "Pray; trust in god" (92.5%), followed by "Accept the situation as it is" (88.0%), and "Hope that things will be better" (73.5%). More than half of the mothers (55.5%) reported that they always "Resign themselves to the situation because it is their fate" while 28.0% reported that they always "Worry." The percent mean score of use of problem-oriented coping methods was nearly equal to that for affective-oriented coping methods. Duration of illness (p<0.01), previous hospitalization (p=0.01), and attitude of mothers to illness (p=0.05) were all significantly associated with coping strategies. However, after adjustment for other variables, high percent mean total coping scores were more likely among mothers of children with longer disease duration and those whose mother showed negative attitude towards cardiac problems (p<0.05). Conclusion: Health education programs are needed to enhance coping strategies, knowledge, and attitude of mothers of children with cardiac problems. However, high coping strategy scores are significantly associated with the longer duration of illness and the negative attitude of mothers, possibly due to prolonged exposure to stress and the feeling that their children are different. Support group for parents is a highly recommended strategy to help a family benefit from communication with others who share common concerns, interests, and goals.

DOI

10.21608/jhiph.2007.22011

Keywords

Coping strategies, Mothers, Cardiac Children

Authors

First Name

Gehan

Last Name

Mounir

MiddleName

-

Affiliation

Department of Family Health (Division of School Health), High Institute of Public Health, Alexandria University, Alexandria, Egypt

Email

-

City

-

Orcid

-

First Name

Mostafa

Last Name

Abolfotouh

MiddleName

-

Affiliation

Department of Family Health (Division of School Health), High Institute of Public Health, Alexandria University, Alexandria, Egypt

Email

-

City

-

Orcid

-

First Name

Kholoud

Last Name

Tayel

MiddleName

-

Affiliation

Department of Family Health (Division of School Health), High Institute of Public Health, Alexandria University, Alexandria, Egypt

Email

kholoudtayel@gmail.com

City

-

Orcid

-

Volume

37

Article Issue

1

Related Issue

4203

Issue Date

2007-01-01

Receive Date

2018-12-15

Publish Date

2007-01-01

Page Start

1

Page End

18

Print ISSN

2357-0601

Online ISSN

2357-061X

Link

https://jhiphalexu.journals.ekb.eg/article_22011.html

Detail API

https://jhiphalexu.journals.ekb.eg/service?article_code=22011

Order

1

Type

Original Article

Type Code

511

Publication Type

Journal

Publication Title

Journal of High Institute of Public Health

Publication Link

https://jhiphalexu.journals.ekb.eg/

MainTitle

Coping Strategies of Mothers of Children with Cardiac Problems

Details

Type

Article

Created At

22 Jan 2023