Survey the Self-steem and Related Factors among Mothers of Children with Neurological Disorders: A Cross-sectional Study

Background: Self-esteem is one of the vital human needs and most experts consider it as the main factor of socio-emotional adjustment. Mothers with a child with chronic neurological diseases often suffer from self-esteem as they face multiple problems and are unable to fully meet the needs of their children, which can have a detrimental effect on their quality of life. The aim of this study was to assess the self-esteem of mothers with children with chronic neurological disorders referred to 17 Shahrivar of Rasht in 2018. Methods: This descriptive cross-sectional study was conducted on 200 mothers of children with chronic neurological disorders (epilepsy, Down syndrome, autism and genetic disorders) referred to the Educational and therapeutic center of 17 Shahrivar in Rasht, Iran. The data collection method was a questionnaire consisting of two parts: The first part included a Cooper Smith Self-Stem Inventory, which included four domains (general, educational, family, and social) and the second part included a researcher-made questionnaire developed by factors related to mothers self-esteem (individual factors and family factors). After data entry in SPSS software version 21, descriptive and inferential statistics (Kruskal Wallis and Mann-Whitney U) were used to analyze the data. Results: After analyzing the data, it was found that 82% of the samples had low self-steem. There was no significant relationship between personal and family factors with self-esteem (P> 0.05). Conclusion: The results of this study indicate that most mothers have low self-esteem. Therefore, it is essential to develop effective educational and psychological programs in this regard.

Keywords: Self Concept, Mother, Neurological Disorder