Desenvolvimento de crianças cardiopatas congênitas e estresse materno

Abstract

Introduction: Congenital heart disease (CHD) is a chronic disease characterized by structural and functional abnormalities in the cardiocirculatory system, which may occur due to genetic, environmental, or even multifactorial origin. The literature discusses the possibility that CHD has an impact on the child's general development, in addition to creating a stressful environment for the family, especially the mother, who, in fact, assumes care, innumerable, delicate, and prolonged. Research on maternal stress is varied, with some heterogeneity in its findings. However, studies on possible relationships between maternal stress and problems in child development are less frequent and, at times, inconsistent and contradictory. Objective: To describe the development of children with heart diseases and their mothers' stress levels, verifying possible associations. Methods: Quantitative, cross-sectional, descriptive research, approved by the ethics committee of the Institution of origin (number 5,615,747), in which 13 mothers of children with heart disease aged up to 5.0 years participated. Participants were selected from a database and, after accepting the research terms, data collection began through the application of two instruments remotely: the Learn The Signs Child Development Tracking Scale. Act Early. (LTSAE) and the Lipp Adult Stress Symptom Inventory (ISSL). Results: Regarding the development of the children, (69.2%) were in a state of developmental alert and showed signs in more than one domain of the LTSAE. With regard to the mothers' stress, (15.4%) did not present any level of stress, seven (53.8%) were in a medium stage of stress - resistance, and four (30.8%) were in the more serious almost exhaustion-. However, the association between these two variables, made through the chi-square test, did not find significance. The result indicates that there is no association between development and maternal stress (p = 0.489), regardless of whether or not the child has warning signs. Conclusion: The results showed that the relationship between maternal stress and child development problems is not constant and absolute, indicating the need to consider the particularity of each case