Severity, uncertainty, social support and coping style of parents who have children with epilepsy: a structural equation model

TL;DR

This study explores how illness severity, social support, and coping styles affect parents of children with epilepsy in China.

Contribution

The paper introduces a structural equation model to analyze the interplay between illness uncertainty, social support, and active coping in parents of children with epilepsy.

Findings

Social support negatively predicts illness uncertainty and positively predicts active coping.

Illness uncertainty partially mediates the relationship between social support and active coping.

No direct relationship was found between illness severity and active coping.

Abstract

To examine four variables in the model of perceived uncertainty in illness in northwestern China; to explore the relationship between severity, social support, illness uncertainty, and active coping in parents of children with epilepsy.

A cross-sectional study design.

The STROBE checklist was used to ensure the rigor in this study.

This study recruits parents of children with epilepsy from a tertiary children’s hospital using convenience sampling between January and November 2024. Eligible participants completed questionnaires via an online platform (https://www.wjx.cn/) by scanning the QR code. Structural equation modeling and mediated effects serve as the methods for data analysis.

This study surveyed 492 parents, including 192 males (39.0%) and 300 females (61.0%). The corrected model achieved an acceptable model fit: (χ2 = 89.104 (p < 0.001); df = 59; χ2/df = 1.510; RMSEA = 0.043; CFI = 0.960; TLI = 0.941; IFI = 0.969). Severity positively predicted illness uncertainty (β = 0.105, p < 0.05). Social support negatively predicted illness uncertainty (β = −0.111, p < 0.05) and positively predicted active coping (β = 0.583, p < 0.001). Illness uncertainty negatively predicted active coping (β = −0.075, p < 0.05). Social support had a direct positive effect on active coping (β = 0.550, p < 0.01), and social support had an indirect negative effect on active coping through uncertainty (β = −0.012, p < 0.001).

Illness uncertainty partially mediated the relationship between social support and active coping. However, we did not confirm a relationship between illness severity and active coping in this study.

Figures