The impact of having disabled children on Turkish parents: mothers and fathers differences

Abstract

Objective: The first aim of this study was to measure and to compare the impact of having disabled children on mothers and fathers. The second aim was to describe the relationship between the validated Turkish version of the Impact on Family Scale (IFS), developed by Stein and Riessman in 1980 was used to measure the degree to which family life is affected by the presence of a chronic physical disorder during childhood, and the Beck Depression Inventory (BDI) and the Nottingham Health Profile (NHP). Methods: A total of 570 participants from different cities in Turkey met inclusion criteria: 284 mothers, 286 fathers. The mean age of the sample was 37.6 years. Results: The mean IFS, NHP, and BDI scores of the sample were 53.3, 150.6, and 10.2 respectively. Based on the results of Spearman Correlation analyses and clinical meaningfulness, total IFS score was seen to be moderate correlated with the BDI average score (r = 0.511, p = 0.000) and the NHP average score (r = 0.449, p = 0.000). A significant correlation was also found between the BDI average score and the NHP average score (r = 0.724, p = 0.000). There was no difference in total IFS scores of the parents. On the other hand, there were differences between the mothers and the fathers regarding quality of life (NHP score) and depressive symptoms (BDI score). Conclusions: The findings indicate that Turkish speaking mothers and fathers, who had disabled children, were found to be affected by this situation. However, the mothers’ quality of life and emotional status were seen to be more affected.