癲癇學童父母親壓力知覺與社會支持相關性探討

癲癇是台灣地區學齡兒童常見的慢性病之一，長期影響學童的生理及心理發展。本研究為探討癲癇學童家長的壓力知覺與社會支持間的相關性，及檢視學童及父母親的個人屬性資料在壓力知覺及社會支持的差異性，並提出臨床照護之建議。研究採描述性相關設計，於中部某醫學中心、小兒神經內科門診收案，以確立診斷慢性癲癇的7 至15 歲學童之一位家長能接受國、台語訪談為對象，獲得家長簽署參與研究同意書後收集問卷資料。研究工具包括學童及家長個人屬性資料、壓力知覺量表與社會支持量表。所有問卷均獲得可接受的信度。研究結果共收集75 份有效問卷，有56 位母親、19 位父親接受訪談。學童之平均年齡為11 歲4 個月。受訪家長反應其知覺的壓力並不太高；所獲得的社會支持很少，尤其是有關學童在成長或心理方面的資訊。分析社會支持的來源，比較來自家人、朋友與專業人員三者的支持，家長反應工具性支持以來自家人最多，資訊性支持以來自專業人員最多，情緒性支持以來自家人最多，均具顯著性差異。研究結果建議醫療健康照護人員在接觸這些家長時，應主動關懷家長在教養及教育病童方面的需求，提供所需的資訊。協助家長處理生活中的壓力進而照護好病童。未來可以發展介入措施，以強化癲癇學童家長尋求社會支持的能力。

The purpose of this quantitative study is to explore the relationship between perceived pressure and social support in parents of children with epilepsy. Researchers recruited parents of children with epilepsy at the pediatric neurology clinic of Changhua Christian Hospital. Several scales including the demographic data of children and their parents, the Perceived Stress Scale, and social support scale were used to collect data. All data were encoded into computer, and analyzed with the SPSS 15.0 packaged software. This study recruited fifty-six mothers and nineteen fathers. The results revealed that parents' perceived stress was not high, but parents were short of social supports, especially informational support about child development and how to nurture sick children. Major sources of social support came from family, friends, and professionals. Instrumental and emotional support mostly came from the family, whereas informational support came from professionals. Our findings suggested that health care workers should actively explore the needs of parents of child with epilepsy and give appropriate information in nursing care. Future study should develop intervention methods to improve the ability for seeking social support in parents of children with epilepsy.