Prevalence Of Psychological Distress At Different Stages Of Caregiving Trajectory Among Mothers Of Children With Neurodevelopmental Disorders In India: A Case-Control Study

Children with neurodevelopmental disorders (NDD) such as autism spectrum disorders (ASD), intellectual disability (ID) requires constant support and care. In most cases mothers are the primary caregivers for the children with NDD. Due to constant and prolonged caregiving, they may experience or develop psychological distress. However, the prevalence of psychological distress among the mothers of children with NDD particularly in India remains understudied. In this study, we aimed at deriving the prevalence rate of psychological distress among these mothers and also to study the differences in psychological distress in mothers of children with NDD, mothers of typically developing child (TD), mothers of children with NDD who are at different stages of caregiving trajectory and also based on other demographic characteristics. A total of 204 participants who met the recruitment criteria for the study were assessed using General Health Questionnaire -28. The participants were grouped on the basis of their child diagnosis, the group size are as follows: n1 (ASD) = 51, n2 (ID) = 53, n3 (TD) = 100. The control group i.e., mothers of typically developing children were socio-demographically matched (in terms of mother’s age, child age). The findings revealed no significant differences in the scores of GHQ among the mothers of children with autism spectrum disorder and intellectual disability, yet it indicated higher level of prevalence rates of psychological distress for mothers with ASD than ID. As hypothesized, there were significant differences in psychological distress among mothers of children with NDD and typically developing children. Also, younger mothers and mothers caring for younger children were experiencing marked level of psychological distress. The implications are discussed in the light of policy making, shift in treatment approach involving family-based interventions etc.