Depression, Quality of Life, and Quality of Sleep in Mothers of Children with Cerebral Palsy

Cerebral palsy (CP) is a neurological disorder characterised by impairments of posture and mobility. The caregivers of children with CP experience various physical, emotional, and environmental challenges. This study aimed to determine the level of depression, quality of life, and sleep in mothers of children with CP. This cross-sectional study was conducted at the University of Lahore, and data were collected from paediatric rehabilitation departments in various hospitals of Lahore, Punjab, Pakistan. A sample of 50 mothers of children with CP was obtained, and the severity of depression, quality of life, and sleep were assessed using the Beck Depression Inventory-II (Beck et al., 1996), the World Health Organization Quality of Life-BREF (WHO, 1998), and the Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index (Buysse et al., 1989), respectively. CP children were of an age range from 4 to 15 years, with a mean of 6.32±2.88 years, and mothers were between 25 and 45 years, with a mean of 35±4.94 years. A considerable proportion of mothers had moderate levels of depression, while their quality of life across physical, psychological, social, and environmental domains was moderate to low. Sleep quality was also poor, representing notable sleep disturbances. The age and gender of the children with CP were also found to be associated with the changes in the mother’s social relationships and sleep quality. These findings depict that the mothers providing care to children with CP had a sufficient psychosocial burden that requires appropriate and timely support, counselling, and community-based interventions to help improve their mental health and well-being.