Depression in Mothers of Cerebral Palsy Children: Rural versus Urban

Cerebral palsy includes a group of disorders affecting body movements, balance, and posture. Loosely translated, cerebral palsy means “brain paralysis.” Children with cerebral palsy suffer from several problems, so the family especially the mothers undergo a lot of social and emotional difficulties. Care and attention required is quite high in such cases, so it hampers routine life of parents especially mothers. Various studies worldwide have proved that there is high prevalence of anxiety and depression in mothers having child with CP. A set of norms and taboos in each society have different view about social issues and different point of views.

60 mothers, having children with cerebral palsy were studied. The criterion for set up i. e. rural and urban was based on the locality. Children were screened for categorizing GMFCS level. Mothers were assessed with the Beck Depression Inventory Scale (BDIS). The data were classified according to the different variables studied viz., age, gender of the child, types of cerebral palsy, religion, and location of residence, mother's age and mother's education. Result showed varied difference in depression on the basis of various factors.

The study shows marked level of depression in the mothers having child with cerebral palsy, in both rural and urban pockets. There are various factors which are affecting the level of depression in mothers such as mother's age, mother's education, child's gender, child's GFMC'S level, child's age through the study we can conclude that these factors have an impact on level of depression in mothers of cerebral palsy child in considerable amount.