Abstract
Introduction: A Diabetes Mellitus (DM) diagnosis in the child traumatic event that parents have to cope with. Aim: It was the investigation of state and trait anxiety of parents of children suffering from DM and the comparison between the groups of fathers with that of mothers’.
Material and method: The sample of the study consisted of 83 parents (18 fathers and 65 mothers) of children with DM, accompanying their children during their regular examination as outpatients in the Pediatric Endocrinology Department of one University and one General hospital of a provincial town in Greece.The participants filled in the Spielberger’s State –Trait Anxiety Inventory.The statistical methods t-Test and Χp2 were used. Statistical significance was set at p<0.05
Results: The mean age of fathers and mothers was 43.72 ±7.50 and 40.15±5.46 respectively. Mean values of fathers’ State and Trait anxiety were 45,67±11,31 and 40.56 ± 12.83, while mothers’ were 45.05±10.33 and 45.22 ± 9.02 respectively. When parents were divided into two categories, depending on cut-off value 43, which is the mean value of the healthy population for both subscales, no statistically significant difference was observed.
Conclusion: Parents of children with DM have higher levels of state anxiety than the general population, without a statistical difference noted between fathers and mothers
Key words: State anxiety,Trait anxiety, Parents, Children, Diabetes Mellitus, Nursing, Psychology.
