Mothers of children that need continuous and complex care: Factors associated with social support

Abstract

Objective  to analyze the factors associated with social support for mothers of children who need continuous and complex care.

Method  an observational, analytical and cross-sectional study, with a quantitative approach. Data collection took place in the outpatient clinics of a pediatric hospital located in the inland of the state of São Paulo. A total of 36 mothers participated in the study, who answered a characterization instrument and the Medical Outcomes Study - Social Support Survey. For statistical analysis, the Mann-Whitney, Kruskal-Wallis and Spearman correlation tests were used. The ethical precepts of research involving human beings were followed.

Results  affective, material and social interaction social support had satisfactory scores (above 80 points). The scores for the information and emotional dimensions were 78.06 and 78.33, respectively. The maternal age variable showed a negative correlation with emotional (0.040) and information (0.009) social support.

Conclusion and implications for the practice  the mothers, especially older ones, receive less support from people who can guide and give advice, as well as someone they can trust to talk about their problems. This result can support the planning of intervention strategies with families in order to strengthen social support.

Keywords:  Nursing; Child; Social Support; Mothers; Family