Depression and anxiety in parents of children and adolescents with intellectual disability

BACKGROUND: Parents of Intellectual Disabled (ID) children and adolescents are subjected to higher caregiver burden which is associated with Depression and Anxiety. There are very few studies which have assessed these morbidities in an industrial population. AIMS AND OBJECTIVES: The aim of this study was to explore the prevalence of Depression and Anxiety and its psychosocial correlates among these parents. MATERIALS AND METHODS: The study was a Cross-sectional observational study, conducted at the Psychiatry unit of a tertiary care multi-specialty hospital in Maharashtra. It examined 99 parents (99 fathers and 98 mothers) of 99 children and adolescents (up to 18 yrs of age) with Intellectual Disability for Depression and Anxiety. Assessment was done using Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale (HADS). RESULTS: 94% of mothers and 66.7% of fathers were found to have either anxiety or depressive symptoms, or both. Among mothers, 91.8% had scores suggestive of anxiety, 66.3% for depression and 64.3% for both anxiety and depression. Among fathers 57.6% had had scores suggestive of anxiety, 35.4% for depression and 26.3% for both. The association was significant between HADS Depression sub-scores of parents and child's ID severity, diagnosis of Down's syndrome and lack of family support (P-value <0.05). In addition significant association was also found between father's anxiety and depression scores and age of father and medical co-morbidities in the child (P-value <0.05). CONCLUSION: Significantly high proportions of parents were found to have anxiety /depressive symptoms or both. These symptoms appear to be associated with severity of ID and lack of family support and were significantly more in the primary care giver (mothers).