Parental stress, coping mechanisms and predictors of parental stress among parents of children with epilepsy

Objectives: To investigate the parental stress and coping mechanisms in parents of children with epilepsy (CWE) and to determine the predictors of parental stress. Methods: Parents of CWE (n=323) were evaluated for parental stress (PS) with a modified Abidin’s parental stress index short-form scale (PSI-SF) and the coping mechanisms by modified ways of coping of Folkman and Lazarus. PS was defined by calculating 90 percentile values of the PSI total score. Results: A significantly higher mean parental stress index total and parenting distress subscale score was observed in females than in males. The percentage of PS was 10.52% among the parents of CWE. Distancing was the dominant coping mechanism used by the parents of CWE. Type of family, seizures, duration of illness, number of drugs used, seizure-related injuries, neighbour know child taking antiepileptic drugs and seeking social support were found to be the significant predictors of parental stress in the combined group. Seeking social support was found to be the common predictor for PS in both sexes, whereas duration of illness and number of drugs used were specific to females only. Conclusions: Interventions need to be designed to improve the mental health and information seeking among the parents of CWE to reduce parental stress and to improve the quality of life of the caregiver and the cared.