Browsing by Author "Samarasinghe, G."

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A preliminary study of the psycho-social burden of bipolar disorder on siblings
(Sri Lanka Medical Association, 2017) Fernando, P.S.; Ranaweera, H.P.A.L.; Karunarathna, K.A.S.T.; Kaushalya, N.I.; Samarasinghe, G.; Peiris, M.U.P.K.; Williams, S.S.
INTRODUCTION & OBJECTIVES: Bipolar disorder (BD) is a recurrent mood disorder with a prevalence of 1-2% in the general population. Individuals with BD experience significant impacts on family and social relationships, suffer from occupational instability, and are at greater risk of self-harm and suicide. This research aims to examine experiences and concerns of siblings of individuals with BD. METHODS: Quantitative data was collected from siblings of persons with BD through the psychiatry clinics at North Colombo Teaching Hospital after informed consent. For data collection, the ‘Sibling Impact Questionnaire–Bipolar Disorder’ (SIQ-BD) was developed. The SIQ-BD measures the impact on a sibling of a person with BD, across three timeframes, the ‘past year’, ‘over the years’, and ’worst time’. RESULTS: Out of 48 siblings (14 males, 34 females; mean age 42.7 years), 44 (11 males, 33 females) act as care givers to their siblings. The highest burden was during the ‘worst time’; and during this ‘worst time’ 16.7% of siblings worried that their sibling may commit suicide ‘very much so’, followed by 12.5% and 6.2% during the ‘whole time’ and ‘past year’ respectively. On a positive note, stigma was reported as high by only one sibling during the ‘worst time’ and none during the ‘past year’ and ‘whole time’. The highest disruption to daily life was experienced during the ‘worst time’. Providing financial support during the past year was significantly associated with higher burden (p=0.002). CONCLUSION: Siblings of persons with BD experience a mixed burden with low perception of stigma in this preliminary study.
Psycho-social factors associated with parental stress among parents of children with autism, cerebral palsy and Down syndrome in Sri Lanka
(Book of Abstracts, Annual Research Symposium 2014, 2014) Godamunne, P.K.S.; Pathmeswaran, A.; Samankula, D.; Samarasinghe, G.
Determining factors associated with parental stress can assist in the development of interventions to improve the well-being of parents of children with developmental disabilities. Though studies in other countries have identified a variety of factors that have an impact on stress experienced by parents of children with cerebral palsy, autism or Down syndrome, no such studies have been done in Sri Lanka.
Psychometric properties of the Sinhala Parental Stress Scale and BriefCOPE: Validation among parents of children with chronic illnesses and developmental disabilities
(Book of Abstracts, Annual Research Symposium 2014, 2014) Godamunne, P.K.S.; Pathmeswaran, A.; Samankula, A.D.; Samarasinghe, G.
Measuring stress associated with bringing up a child with a chronic illness or a developmental disability can help health care professionals prevent more serious consequences in terms of psychological health as well as in planning effective intervention strategies for families. Identifying coping styles employed by parents in coping with stress can be useful in identifying the strengths and weaknesses of a particular family and help formulate interventions and services accordingly to strengthen family resilience. Therefore it is necessary to obtain valid and reliable tools to assess parental stress and coping. In busy clinical settings as well as research settings where there are multiple demands on participants, it is important to use brief measurement tools. The Parental Stress Scale (Berry & Jones, 1995) and BriefCOPE (Carver, 1997) are brief yet psychometrically sound instruments for assessing parental stress and coping respectively.
Stress and Coping Experiences of Parents of Children with Neurodevelopmental Disorders in Sri Lanka: A Qualitative Study
(University of Kelaniya, 2012) Godamunne, P.K.S.; Pathmeswaran, A.; Samarasinghe, G.
Objectives: To describe how parents of children with autism, cerebral palsy or Down syndrome understand and explain the child’s disability, and identify stressors affecting these parents and their coping strategies. Method: A qualitative, phenomenological study was carried out. Thirty parents (15 mothers and 15 fathers) of children with autism, cerebral palsy and Down syndrome aged between 3 and 11 years of age participated. Individual, semi-structured interviews were conducted with participants and taperecorded. Transcripts of interviews were analysed for emerging themes and concepts. Results: Most parents used medical explanations to explain their children’s conditions. Some parents of children with autism used brief separation from an attachment figure as a possible reason for their child’s condition. The physical burden of care, financial cost, travelling for various treatments and worries about the future were identified as being key stressors for parents. Developing a routine, facing one day at a time, avoidance and spending time with family were some of the coping mechanisms described by parents. Parents used the image of a ‘special parent’ to describe themselves which likely helped them to cope. Family members, friends, parents of children with similar disorders, institutions and professionals were identified as main sources of social support that helped parents cope. Conclusions: The results of this study can help raise awareness among health care workers about the stressors experienced by parents of children with neurodevelopmental disorders in Sri Lanka and aid them to address these issues, as well as strengthen parents’ adaptive coping mechanisms.