Department of Community Based Rehabilitation, Hanoi School of Public Health, Hanoi, Vietnam.
Glob Health Action. 2013 Feb 11;6:18886. doi: 10.3402/gha.v6i0.18886.
Having a child with a disability is a heavy burden for mothers, especially in developing countries, where there is little available financial or other government support. Having a child with a disability is also linked to mental health problems and poor quality of life. Communities rich in social capital and individuals who have high levels of personal social capital generally enjoy day-to-day and long-term health and social benefits but this has not been investigated in Vietnam among mothers of children with disabilities. This study aims to investigate these mothers' distress in terms of their social capital.
A cross-sectional study based on an interviewer-assisted survey included 172 mothers of children with moderate/severe disabilities in two provinces of Vietnam (one in the North and one in central Vietnam), using a newly translated and modified version of the Australian community participation questionnaire, several measures of personal social cohesion, and Kessler's 10-item measure of general psychological distress. Hierarchical linear regression modelling was used to explore the relationships among socio-demographic factors, multiple components of structural and cognitive social capita, and mothers' distress controlling for a wide range of socio-demographic characteristics, the nature of the child's disability, and mothers' personality (extroversion).
Mothers in this study were highly and multiply disadvantaged, and they had very high levels of distress and low levels of community participation. Furthermore, most forms of participation were associated with greater, not less, distress. Socio-demographic characteristics, child's disability, and mothers' personality did little to explain variance in mothers' distress, but types and amounts of participation were important predictors. The final regression model explained 29% of variance in distress, with major contributions made by living in a mountainous area, having a 'reserved' personality, and frequency and types of participation.
Vietnamese mothers whose children have disabilities are extremely marginalised and distressed. They have only modest social capital, but the little they have tends to be related to better mental health. Being from the mountains; being 'reserved'; spending time with friends, neighbours, and in educational activities; and trusting others are related to better mental health among these women. However, several types of participation are associated with worse mental health. Such activities should be avoided in any interventions designed to increase social capital as a mental health promotion strategy.
对于母亲来说，生育一个残疾孩子是一个沉重的负担，尤其是在发展中国家，那里几乎没有可用的财政或其他政府支持。生育一个残疾孩子也与心理健康问题和生活质量差有关。社会资本丰富的社区和个人拥有高水平的个人社会资本通常会享受到日常和长期的健康和社会效益，但在越南，残疾儿童的母亲中尚未对此进行调查。本研究旨在调查这些母亲的社会资本方面的困境。
这是一项基于访谈的横断面研究，调查了越南两个省（一个在北部，一个在中部）的 172 名中度/重度残疾儿童的母亲，使用了新翻译和修改的澳大利亚社区参与问卷、个人社会凝聚力的几个衡量标准，以及凯斯勒 10 项一般心理困扰量表。分层线性回归模型用于探索社会人口因素、结构和认知社会资本的多个组成部分，以及母亲的困扰之间的关系，同时控制了广泛的社会人口特征、孩子残疾的性质和母亲的个性（外向）。
本研究中的母亲处于高度和多重劣势地位，她们的困扰程度非常高，社区参与度非常低。此外，大多数参与形式都与更大的困扰有关，而不是更少的困扰。社会人口特征、孩子的残疾和母亲的个性对母亲困扰的变化几乎没有解释力，但参与的类型和数量是重要的预测因素。最终的回归模型解释了困扰的 29%的方差，主要由居住在山区、性格“内向”、参与频率和类型做出贡献。
越南残疾儿童的母亲处于极度边缘化和困扰之中。她们的社会资本有限，但她们拥有的社会资本往往与更好的心理健康有关。来自山区；性格“内向”；与朋友、邻居共度时光，参加教育活动；以及信任他人与这些女性的更好的心理健康有关。然而，几种参与类型与更差的心理健康有关。在任何旨在增加社会资本作为促进心理健康策略的干预措施中，都应避免这些活动。
