Comparing Psychological Distress, Psychological Capitals and Emotional Regulation among Mothers of the Children with Cancer and Normal Mothers

The present study was conducted to compare psychological distress, psychological capitals and emotional regulation among mothers of the children with cancer and normal mothers in the city of Tehran.

The research method of the present study was descriptive with causalcomparative type. The statistical population of the present study included all the mothers of the children with cancer and normal mothers in the city of Tehran in 2017. Purposive nonprobable sampling method was used in the current study in a way that 100 mothers of the children suffering from cancer were purposefully selected in the city of Tehran and the research questionnaire have been given to them. The applied questionnaires in the present study included psychological distress questionnaire (Kesler, et.al, 2003), emotional regulation questionnaire (Garenfsky, et.al, 2001) and psychological capital questionnaire (Lotanz, 2007). The data from the study were analyzed through ANOVA.

The results from data analysis showed that psychological distress, psychological capitals and emotional regulation were significantly different between two groups of mothers of the children with cancer and normal mothers (P<0.0001) in a way that the mothers of the children with cancer had lower scores in psychological capitals and positive emotional regulation and higher scores in the components of psychological distress and negative emotional regulation comparing to normal ones.

According to the findings of the present study it is necessary to give enough attention to the psychological processes of the mothers of the children with cancer and help their psychological health through applying suitable intervention methods.