Emotional Regulation of Mothers Bringing Up Children With Burn Injury

Abstract

Introduction

Burn injuries occupy 11th place in the list of causes of infant mortality and 5th in the list of the most common non-fatal childhood injuries (WHO, 2014). The situation of getting a burn injury, prolonged hospitalization, painful medical procedures, the threat of a child's life results in mother's unusual and heavy emotional experience. Adequate processing of this experience will be an important factor in her future mental health. The study involved 35 mothers hospitalized with their children because of burn trauma.

Objectives

The aim of the study was to describe the characteristics of emotional regulation and emotional response of mothers bringing up children with burn injury.

Goals

(1) Describe the phenomenа of emotional regulation, found in mothers whose children have experienced a burn injury; (2) determine factors that cause appearance of special emotional phenomena among these mothers.

Methods

Сlinical interview, Beck Depression Inventory, State Trait Anxiety Inventor, Cognitive Emotion Regulation Questionnaire (CERQ).

Results

A significant numbers of mothers shows a high level of anxiety and depression, which may be predictive of the development of PTSD. The main cognitive strategies of emotion regulation – self-blame and disasterization are maladaptive. An important role played by unconscious strategy of emotion regulation, basically – situation selection and attentional deployment, as well as the social regulation of emotions: the availability of a good support from family members with adaptive strategies of emotional regulation, adequate reactions of other mothers in hospital associated with less emotional distress above mothers. There is no correlation between the severity of burn injury and the emotional response of the mother.

Disclosure of interest

The authors have not supplied their declaration of competing interest.