Effects of a Self-Encouragement Program on Stress of Mothers of Children with Cancer Referred to Imam Ali Hospital, Zahedan, In 2015

INTRODUCTION: In addition to the physical problems for the patients themselves, cancer can cause several social and psychological problems to the family, especially the mother in pediatric cases. This study aimed to investigate the effects of a self-encouragement program on stress of mothers of children with cancer referred to Imam Ali Hospital of Zahedan in 2015. MATERIALS AND METHODS: This case-control study was performed on 44 mothers with children suffering from cancer, referred to the hospital during October and November of 2015. Convenience sampling was used, and the mothers were randomly allocated into two 22-member groups. The Impact of Event Scale – Revised (IES-R) was the data collection instrument. Educational classes were held in the hospital. Confidentiality and mutual respect were observed by each and every member of the group. Data obtained before and after the intervention were analyzed using the independent t-test, paired t-test and ANOVA. The significance level was set at 0.05. FINDINGS: The most frequent diseases were acute lymphoblastic leukemia (47%) and brain tumors (16%). The results indicated that the mean score of stress in the control group did not significantly between the two time points (P=0.106). In the intervention group, however, there was a significant difference in stress mean scores before (54.3±2.0) and after (37.1±1.8) the intervention (P<0.001). CONCLUSION: Self-encouragement can help mothers dealing with a diseased child to feel less stressed. Therefore, they may be able to act more effectively when faced with problems.