Coping strategies of parents of children with chronic diseases and their relationship with caregiving burden.

INTRODUCTION: Chronic diseases affect a significant percentage of children worldwide. Parents, as primary caregivers, experience substantial psychological and physical challenges that necessitate effective coping mechanisms. This study aimed to investigate parental coping strategies and their association with caregiving burden among parents of children with chronic diseases. METHODS: This descriptive-cross-sectional study was conducted among the parents of children with chronic diseases in 2023–2024, in Qazvin, Iran. 224 parents were included in the study by using the convenience sampling method. Data was collected using a demographic information checklist, a Coping health inventory for parents, and a caregiver burden inventory. Data were analyzed using SPSS version 25 software, descriptive indices, univariate and multivariate linear regression. The significance level of the tests was considered less than p < 0.05. RESULTS: The mean age of fathers and mothers in this study was 35.64 ± 6.58 and 31.37 ± 5.92, respectively. Of the 224 samples included in the study, 117 were male (52.2%) and the rest were female. The total mean score for parental coping strategies was 81.23 ± 15.90, and the total caregiving burden score was 56.28 ± 9.31. Multivariate regression analysis revealed that caregiving burden was a significant inverse predictor of parental coping strategies (β=-0.27, 95% CI: -0.51, -0.04, P = 0.024). The final model explained 24% of the variance in the outcome variable (R² = 0.24). CONCLUSION: The findings indicate that parents of children with chronic diseases employ various coping strategies. The significant inverse association between caregiving burden and coping strategies identifies burden as a key factor that may hinder effective parental adaptation. These results can inform the design of interventions aimed at reducing parental burden to enhance their coping capacity.