2021, Vol. 3, Issue 2, Part A

Background: Caring of a child with bipolar disorder (BPAD) is a challenging job because of numerous illness-related and non-illness related factors – “securing appropriate treatment on long-term basis. The present study was conducted to evaluate maternal stress in mothers of adolescents with BPAD.

Materials & Methods: 68 mothers of adolescent with bipolar disorder of both genders were included. The GHQ-12 was applied on mothers of bipolar disorder adolescent (Group I) and the mothers of normal adolescents (Group II). The Parenting Stress Index, Brief COPE Scale was recorded.

Results: Adolescent age in group I was 15.2 years and in group II was 13.1 years, mother age was 38.4 years in group I and 36.2 years in group II and family size was 6.1 in group I and 5.5 in group II. The parental distress (PD) in group I was 41.4 and in group II was 35.2, parent child dysfunctional interaction (PDCI) in group I was 42.6 and in group II was 31.6, difficult child (DC) was 41.2 in group I and 31.8 in group II and total score was 125.2 in group I and 98.6 in group II. The difference was significant (P< 0.05).

Conclusion: Mothers of the adolescents with BPAD tend to perceive high level of stress and they also have significantly higher level of dysfunctional relationship with their children.