FREITAS, Patrícia Martins de; ROCHA, Carine Mendes    HAASE, Vitor Geraldi. Analysis of predictors of psychological status of mothers of children with cerebral palsy. Estud. pesqui. psicol. []. 2014, 14, 2, pp.453-473. ISSN 1808-4281.

The physical and emotional burden associated with caring for children with chronic diseases can cause damage in the daily lives of mothers and other family members. Psychological distress has been identified and characterized, and still important to investigate predictors of this phenomenon. The aim of these study was to identify predictors of psychological distress of mothers of children with cerebral palsy considering: characteristics of the mother (age and schooling) perception of own emotional state and general health of mothers, and the behavioral profile. The analysis was based on descriptive, correlational and multiple regression analyzes. The study included 122 mothers of children with cerebral palsy treated at Mineira Association of Rehabilitation in the city of Belo Horizonte. The results show that the predictors of psychological distress were: severity of behaviors identified as problems, age of the child and maternal schooling. The general health was most significantly predicted by the following variables: depression, education and child care-related stress.

: cerebral palsy; suffering; behavior.

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