Comparing the level of stress, depression and quality of life in mothers of children with speech and language disorders with emphasis on the duration of receiving rehabilitation services

Objective: Having a child with speech and language disorders, while creating a sense of great therapeutic responsibility towards them, will significantly affect the psychological dimensions of parents, especially mothers as the primary caregiver. They are more exposed to the pressures and stress that result from the sense of responsibility towards their children. The aim of this study was to compare the level of stress, depression, and quality of life among mothers of children with speech and language disorders whose children have received rehabilitation services for different periods of time. Materials & Methods: The current descriptive-analytical cross-sectional study was conducted on 185 mothers of children with speech and language disorders who needed to receive rehabilitation services. Data collection was done using: a short form of parenting stress index (PSI-SF) to measure stress and a Beck Depression Inventory (BDI-II) to measure maternal depression rate, a health survey questionnaire (a 36-item short form ) (SF-36) to measure the quality of life. Based on the duration of receiving rehabilitation services, mothers participating in this study were divided into four groups: 1) for less than one month, 2) between 1 to 6 months, 3) between 7 to 11 months, and 4) for more than 12 months. The data were analyzed by one-way analysis of variance and multivariate ANOVA. Results: Comparing the mean scores of PSI, BDI-II, and SF-36 between four groups of mothers was significant (p-value <0.001). The results showed that mothers whose children had received rehabilitation services for a longer period of time had lower mean stress and depression scores and higher mean quality of life scores (P-value < 0.001). The factor of the type of child's disorder had a significant effect on the results (P-value < 0.05). Conclusion: The lowest score of stress and depression and the highest score of quality of life in mothers who had received rehabilitation services for more than 12 months can indicate that mothers who receive rehabilitation services for a longer period of time see the improvement of their children. They are also better able to use stress coping strategies to deal with their child's problem.