Research On Relationship Among Caregiving Experience,Sense Of Coherence And Social Support Of Parents With Epileptic Children

【Objective】To understand the status of caregiving experience,sense of coherence and social support of parents with epileptic children;to analyze the differences in the scores of caregiving experience,sense of coherence and social support in general data,and the relationship among them;to explore the mediating role of sense of coherence between social support and caregiving experience,which might be helpful to provide reference for reducing the burden and increasing the positive aspects of parents with epileptic children.【Methods】A questionnaire survey was carried out in 215 parents of epileptic children at pediatric neurology outpatient department in a class 3-A comprehensive hospital in Jinan from May 2019 to November 2019.Parents were evaluated by general characteristics questionnaire,Zarit Caregiver Burden Interview(ZBI),Positive Aspects of Caregiving(PAC),Sense of Coherence-13(SOC-13)and Social Support Rating Scale(SSRS).SPSS21.0 and Amos23.0 were used to analyze the data.Descriptive statistics,independent sample t test,one-way analyses of variance(ANOVAs),minimum significant difference(LSD),Pearson correlation analysis,multiple linear stepwise regression analysis and construct the structural equation model were used to analyze the data.【Results】1.The average score of the total score of burden for parents with epileptic children was(30.87±14.92),which was at the level of moderate burden.The highest score was individual burden dimension(1.51±0.77),followed by it was the dimension of responsibility burden(0.93±0.65).The average score of the total score of positive aspects was(27.91±10.60),which was at an intermediate level.The score of self-esteem(3.12±1.18)was higher than that of life outlook(3.08±1.32).The average score of the total score of sense of coherence was(60.46±11.24),which was at a low level,the average score of items in the three dimension from high to low were meaningfulness(5.05±1.06),manageability(4.65±1.27),comprehensibility(4.33±0.81).The average score of the total score of social support was(38.59±7.74),which was at an intermediate level.The average score of items in the three dimensions was from high to low were subjective support(5.83±1.38),objective support(2.78±0.79),and utilization of social support(2.32±0.66).2.The results of t test or one-way analysis of variance showed the scores of burden was significant difference in the age and duration of disease of epileptic children,the age and the marital status of the parents with epileptic children,and the monthly family income,statistically significant(P<0.05).There was statistically significant difference in the scores of positive aspects between the father and mother of the epileptic children(P<0.05),and there was also a statistically significant difference in the scores of positive aspects between the parents of the children(P<0.01).Different parents’ age and religious belief had significant differences in sense of coherence scores(P<0.01).The social support scores of parents’ marital status and educational level were statistically different(P<0.01).3.Pearson’s correlation analysis results showed that the total score of burden was negatively correlated with the total score of sense of coherence and the scores of each dimension(P<0.01),and negatively correlated with the total score of social support and the scores of each dimension(P<0.01).The total score of positive aspects was positively correlated with the total score of sense of coherence and the scores of each dimension(P<0.01),and positively correlated with the total score of social support and the scores of each dimension(P<0.01).The total scores of sense of coherence and each dimension were positively correlated with the total scores of social support and each dimension(P < 0.01).The results of multiple linear stepwise regression analysis showed that comprehensibility,subjective support,manageability,and utilization of social support were significant predictors of burden(P<0.05).Comprehensibility,meaningfulness,support availability,objective support,and subjective support were significant predictors of positive aspects(P<0.05).4.Structural equation model found that sense of coherence mediated the relationship between social support and burden.The mediating effect is-0.263 and the proportion of mediating effect is 41.95%.Sense of coherence plays a part in mediating between social support and positive aspects,with the mediating effect of 0.314 and the proportion of mediating effect of 43.37%.【Conclusion】1.The level of burden of parents with epileptic children was moderate,but there was also a certain degree of positive aspects;Sense of coherence was at a low level and social support was at a medium level.2.Caregiving experience,sense of coherence and social support of parents with epileptic children are influenced by different demographic characteristics.3.Burden was negatively correlated with sense of coherence and social support,positive aspects were positively correlated with sense of coherence and social support,and sense of coherence was positively correlated with social support.Comprehensibility,subjective support,and utilization of social support were important predictors of caregiving experience.4.Sense of coherence partly mediates between social support and caregiving experience.Social support can not only directly affect caregiving experience,but also affect it through sense of coherence.It is suggested that social support and Sense of coherence can be used to intervene in the care of parents of children with epilepsy.