Year: 2026
Type: article
Study design: Observational Study
Abstract: Introduction. The emotional state of a mother raising a child with musculoskeletal disorders affects not only her psychological well-being, but also the effectiveness of rehabilitation, the quality of child-parent relations, and the child's social adaptation. Long-term care, medical support and high responsibility create conditions for chronic psychoemotional stress. Despite numerous studies of parental stress, the emotional state of mothers of children with motor disorders still requires a comprehensive assessment, taking into account quantitative and qualitative parameters. Objective. To identify the features of the emotional state of mothers raising children with NODA, in comparison with mothers of healthy children. Materials and methods . Diagnosis of the emotional state of the study participants was carried out using the questionnaire "Attitude to the child's illness" (DOBR), the SAN method, the Hospital scale of Anxiety and Depression (HADS), as well as the projective method "Three Trees". Statistical data processing was performed using the Shapiro-Wilk test and the Mann-Whitney U -test. Results. The study involved 20 women (25-50 years old), divided into two groups: experimental (10 mothers of children with congenital IDA, the average age of children is 10.2 years) and control (10 mothers of healthy children). The mothers of the experimental group showed high indicators of emotional involvement, anxiety, and control of the child's activity on the DOBSH scales. There were no statistically significant differences between the SAN and HADS methods ( p > 0.05), but there is a tendency to reduce well – being and increase anxiety in mothers of children with NODA (average scores: anxiety – 8.9 vs. 7.6; well-being-44.6 vs. 48.9). A qualitative analysis of the "Three Trees" drawings showed the centralization of the mother figure in the experimental group, a reduced image of the father, and a variable image of the child (hypertrophied or fragile), which reflects the redistribution of family roles. Discussion. The data are consistent with studies on high psychological stress on mothers of children with motor disorders. The absence of clinically pronounced differences in the questionnaires and the presence of qualitative features of projective techniques suggests that emotional maladaptation manifests itself mainly in changes in the subjective perception of the family situation and role structure. This justifies the need to develop differentiated psychological support programs aimed at harmonizing intra-family relations and strengthening parental resources.
Authors: Ekaterina S. Zorina, Elena V. Kalachina
Institution: Moscow State University of Psychology & Education
Language: English
Subfield: Clinical Psychology
Field: Psychology
Domain: Social Sciences
Open Access status: hybrid
OpenAlex ID: W7224087677