Psychological adaptation and adjustment of mothers of children with congenital heart disease: stress, coping, and family functioning.

OBJECTIVE Investigate support for the transactional stress and coping model for mothers of children with congenital heart defects, in accounting for the variance in maternal adjustment. METHODS Participants were 52 mothers of children recruited from a university medical center. Measures included illness variables, cognitive processes (i.e., appraisals of stress, expectations, methods of coping, family functioning, and maternal psychological adjustment). RESULTS Maternal adjustment was associated with high levels of daily stress and palliative coping techniques and was not significantly associated with severity of the cardiac defect. Together, the variables of the model accounted for approximately 38% of the variance in maternal adjustment. CONCLUSIONS The findings are in accord with previous research among other chronically ill populations in suggesting an association between stress, coping, and maternal adjustment. Within the limitations of the study, the data were interpreted to support the utility of theoretical models in identifying areas in need of intervention across chronic illness groups.