THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN PERSONAL ACTIONS AND CARING ABILITIES AND PERCEIVED STRESS OF MOTHERS OF CHILDREN WHO ARE UNDER THE SUBSTANCE ABUSE TREATMENT AT ISFAHAN SHAHID MODARRES HOSPITAL

Substance dependence among children is recognized as one of the main sources
of stress for mothers. The current study aims to investigate the association between personal actions,
caring abilities, and perceived stress of mothers of children who are under substance-abuse treatment.
Materials &Methods: The current study uses a quantitative method. The population of the current study
was all mothers with children who were under substance-abuse treatment at Shahid Modarres Hospital,
Isfahan, Iran in 2018. The study measures were perceived stress, two researcher-made questionnaires of
personal actions and caring empowerments. Convergent and divergent validities and construct reliability
of both questionnaires were first assessed using AMOS-20. Then, data were analyzed via Pearson
correlation and hierarchical multiple regression analysis using SPSS-20.
Results: After confirming the convergent and divergent validities and construction reliability of both
questionnaires, Pearson correlation coefficient showed 1) negative relationship between personal
actions, caring abilities, and perceived stress (r = -0.47, r = -0.43, p <0.001, respectively), and 2) a
significant association between some demographic characteristics (including, age, economic status, and
number of children) and perceived stress among these mothers. In addition, after controlling the effect
of these demographic variables, the results of hierarchical multiple regression showed that both mothers'
personal actions and caring abilities negatively predicted perceived stress.
Conclusion: Empowering the personal actions and caring abilities of mothers with children who are
under drug-abuse treatment could lead to the reduction of perceived stress levels among mothers with
different economic and social status.