The association of stress perception on anxiety, depression and sleep quality in parents of children with burns: The moderating effect of social support.

ABSTRACT

OBJECTIVE: Few studies have explored the mental health status of parents of children with burns and the moderating effect of social support on them. METHODS: A survey was performed with parents of 112 burn-injured children at a burn center in China. Their perceived stress, anxiety, depression, sleep quality, and social support were measured by the Chinese Perceived Stress Scale, Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale, Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index, and Perceived Social Support Scale. RESULTS: ➀ The prevalence of anxiety (46.43%), depression (52.67%) and poor sleep quality (43.75%) of parents indicated that they experienced emotional and sleep disorders;➁ The perceived stress was positively correlated with sleep quality, anxiety and depression（P＜0.01), and negatively correlated with perceived social support (p＜0.05); ➂ Social support had a significant moderating effect on their perceived stress and anxiety, depression, but not on their sleep quality. With high social support, parental perceived stress had a significant positive association on anxiety and depression, while with low perceived social support, parental perceived stress had no significant association on anxiety and depression. CONCLUSION: Parents of burned children had increased stress, obvious symptoms of anxiety and depression, and poor sleep quality. Social support had a significant buffering effect on them under low pressure, and high pressure will hinder the buffering effect of social support on stress. Therefore, the ideal services to improve mental health should be provided for them to face different levels of stress.