Parental coping mechanisms in children with congenital heart disease at tertiary cardiac centre

Abstract

Background: Congenital Heart Diseases (CHD) are among the most pervasive and serious chronic illnesses. Parents of children with a chronic condition must cope with greater demands and adopt different behaviors in order to lessen the impact on the family structure.Aims and Objectives: This study aims to explore the coping mechanism used by parents of children with CHD.Materials and Methods: This descriptive study included 100 parents of children with CHD selected through non-probability purposive sampling technique. Data were collected by interview and analyzed using descriptive statistics.Result: This study revealed that parents of preschool children used more coping mechanism (mean score 30.53 out of total score 57), followed by parents of adolescence (mean score 30). Parents of first-born children with CHD used less coping mechanism (mean score 28.08). Parents of female children used more coping mechanism (mean score 29.52), fathers of children with CHD used more coping mechanism (mean score 29.78), and parents of operated children used more coping mechanism (mean score 29.11).Conclusion: Parental coping mechanism was found to be affected by age, sex, operative status and birth order of children and also by the sex of parent. These findings strongly indicate the need for proper counseling service to parents so that healthy coping is reinforced.Asian Journal of Medical Sciences Vol.7(4) 2016 75-79