The effectiveness of psychoeducation given to mothers of children with cancer

Abstract

Objectives: This study aims to determine the effects of a psychoeducation program on the self-perception of parental role, coping with stress and psychological symptoms of mothers who have a child with cancer and at least one healthy adolescent. Methods: This is an interventional study with pretest, posttest and control group in which a psychoeducation program was administered. Mothers who were caring for a child diagnosed with cancer in the pediatric hematology-oncology clinics of two university hospitals in Ankara, Turkey were included in the study. The program was completed with 15 mothers in both groups. The efficacy of the program was assessed by the Self-Perception of Parental Scale, Coping with Stress Scale and Brief Symptom Inventory (BSI). Friedman and Wilcoxon tests were used for analysis of the data. Results: The psychoeducation program, included the experiences and needs of healthy adolescent siblings, did not provide a statistically significant difference in mothers' self-perception of parental role and coping with stress. There was a decrease in all subscale scores and total scale scores of the mothers after the intervention and the scores were lower than the pre-intervention scores in the follow-up measurements, however, the scores were not statistically significant. Somatization and hostility subscales and total scale scores of mothers in the intervention group were found to be statistically significant (p<0.05). Conclusion: The pilot psychoeducation program for mothers of children with cancer did not significantly affect the self-perception of parental role and coping strategies of mothers, but had a positive effect on their mental status.