Early-onset bipolar disorder, stress, and coping responses of mothers: A comparative study

Providing care and nurturance to a child with bipolar disorder (BPAD) is a challenging task for parents, especially mothers. In Indian contexts, mothers are the primary caregivers of ailing children and they have to keep intrafamily situation stable, which makes their role more stressful.

The objective of the study was to assess maternal stress and coping in mothers of adolescents with BPAD.

This study was a comparative one and carried out on sixty mothers of adolescents; of which thirty were adolescents with BPAD, and the remaining thirty were the mothers of normal adolescents. The participants were selected purposively as per the mothers' age and education level, and the socioeconomic status of the families they belong to. Sociodemographic and clinical data sheet, Parenting Stress Index/Short Form (PSI/SF), and Brief COPE were applied on the mothers for data collection.

Mothers' of the BPAD adolescents reported higher scores in the both PSI/SF and Brief COPE.

Mothers of the adolescents with BPAD tend to perceive high level of stress and they also use maladaptive coping more in dealing with stressful situations.