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Post-traumatic stress spectrum symptoms in parents of children affected by epilepsy: Gender differences
C Carmassi1, M Corsi1, C A Bertelloni1
1Psychiatric Clinic, Department of Clinical and Experimental Medicine, University of Pisa, Via Roma 67, 56100, Pisa, Italy.
Purpose:
To investigate psychopathological reaction to traumatic stress, addressing in particular gender difference, in parental couples of children affected by epilepsy.
Methods:
50 mothers and 50 fathers, paired for one's child, of children followed at the Pediatric Unit of a major Italian University Hospital with a diagnosis of epilepsy were enrolled, screened by means of the Semi-structured Clinical Interview for DSM-5 (SCID-5) and filled the Trauma and Loss Spectrum Self-Report (TALS-SR), an international instrument to evaluate post-traumatic stress symptomatology.
Results:
25 % of the total sample presented a diagnosis of PTSD with a statistically higher prevalence of mothers (36 % and 14 %, respectively; p = .021). Furthermore, 44 % (48 % mothers and 40 % fathers) presented a partial PTSD. Important gender differences emerged also for all cluster dimensions of the TALS-SR except for the Avoidance. Finally, the analysis of the single items of the TALS-SR evidenced that in mothers subgroup prevail cognitive symptoms of fear and sadness as well as somatic manifestations.
Conclusions:
Our results point out the differences between mothers and fathers in trauma response and underline the need to develop gender targeted models of healthcare prevention and assistance.
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