Psychosocial burden of mothers’ care of children with autism attending Federal Neuro-psychiatric Hospital Yaba Nigeria
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Date
2022
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
Texila American University, Guyana.
Abstract
Autism spectrum disorder (ASD), or simply autism, occupies an extreme position among childhood
pathologies due to its severity, duration, and impact on the family. This descriptive study assessed the
psychosocial burden of care on 60 mothers of children with childhood autism. The instrument
consisted of socio-demographic characteristics, 12-item General Health Questionnaire (GHQ-12),
and the Zarit Caregiver Burden Interview (ZCGI). Data were analyzed using SPSS version 23.
Results indicated a significantly high level of psychological distress (51.8%) among mother of
children with autism, and (30%) thirty percent of mothers of children with autism had a low burden.
Bivariate analysis revealed factors that were associated with psychological distress in mother of these
children were the presence of social type of impairments and a high number of impairment in the
child having to cut down or give up work and a high burden score on these women believed to be a
spillover from the care burden. Results also showed the number of impairments at various periods: 12
months (51.79%), 6-12 months (30.36%), and less than 6 months are (17.86%). Mothers’ employment
rate was cut down to 51.9%, while 25.9% gave up their job completely. These were significantly and
independently associated with psychological distress. Conclusively, the study revealed that mothers of
children with autism experience significant higher levels of burden. Hence, an urgent need for the
implementation of intervention programmes to reduce the burden of care among this group of
mothers in Nigeria with social support and governmental assistance and approaches
Description
Keywords
Autism, Caregiver burden, Mothers, Psychosocial burden, Public health