Emotional dysregulation as a moderating factor on the relationship between the severity of anxiety and depressive symptoms and high caregiving intensity among mothers caring for children diagnosed with life-limiting conditions.

OBJECTIVE

Providing care for children with life-limiting conditions(LLCs) is an emotionally challenging experience that often exposes caregivers, particularly mothers, to considerable risk of psychological distress. The purpose of this study was to examine the moderating effect of emotional dysregulation on the relationship between severity of anxiety and depressive symptoms and high caregiving intensity, controlling for sociodemographic characteristics among mothers caring for children diagnosed with life-limiting conditions.

METHOD: Using a cross-sectional descriptive design, a convenience sample of 192 mothers caring for children with life-limiting conditions was recruited and filled out an online self-administered questionnaire. Data were collected using online self-administered questionnaires regarding the sociodemographic characteristics of mothers and their children, emotional regulation difficulties (DERS), and the levels of anxiety and depressive symptoms among the mothers (DASS-21).

RESULTS

The analysis showed that 21.4% and 7.8% of mothers had moderate and severe depressive symptoms, and 19.3% and 15.6% had moderate and severe anxiety symptoms, respectively. The analysis also showed that emotional dysregulation is associated with high levels of anxiety (β = 0.74, P < 0.001) and depression (β = 0.74, P < 0.001); however, there was no significant moderating effect.

SIGNIFICANCE OF

RESULTS

Anxiety and depression are significant psychological distress among mothers caring for children with life-limiting conditions and can be aggravated by emotional dysregulation and caregiving burden. There is a need to integrate interdisciplinary teamwork and family-centered care to provide holistic care and offer early screening, detection, and emotional regulation-focused management programs for psychological distress at healthcare services that care for children with LLCs.