METHODS: To fill this gap, electronic databases including PubMed, Scopus, Science Direct, Sagepub, CINAHL, Psychology, and Behavioral Sciences Collection were searched for relevant studies. A total of 16 studies were included in the systematic review.
RESULTS: The analyses showed that the prevalence of depression, anxiety, and stress ranged from 14.3% to 81.7%, 8.0% to 81.7%, and 0.9% to 56.5% respectively. Adult populations demonstrated the highest prevalence of depression, whereas university students reported the highest prevalence of anxiety and stress. Several factors were associated with mental health conditions including age, gender, family income, and perception of COVID-19.
CONCLUSION: Differentials in mental health screening practices call for standardised screening practices. Mental health intervention should be targeted at high-risk populations with effective risk communication.
OBJECTIVE: To review the factors associated with depression among mothers of children with cancer.
METHOD: Pubmed, Medline, Cochrane, CINAHL, Psychology, and Behavioural Sciences Collection, and Academic Search Complete were searched according to Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA) guidelines to identify studies published between 2010 to 2022 on the associated risk factors of depression among mothers of children with cancer. The keywords used included mothers OR maternal' AND 'Child*' AND 'cancer OR tumo*r OR neoplasm' AND 'factors OR facilitators AND barriers OR predictors OR determinants AND 'depression'. Selected studies were evaluated by quality assessment.
RESULT: Five articles fulfilled the eligibility criteria. The factors associated with depression among mothers of children were socio-demographic risk factors (marital status, education level, annual income, child cancer diagnosis), and stress factors (caregiving stress, cancer-related stress, general stress). There were other factors associated with depression that act as mediators along the process which were emotion-focused coping and perceived social support.
CONCLUSION: Besides the commonly reported socio-demographic risk factors (marital status, education level, and annual income), other factors include stress factors (caregiving stress, cancer-related stress, and general stress). Furthermore, emotion-focused coping and perceived social support act as mediators along the process. More studies are warranted to explore depression among these mothers to ensure the most appropriate and effective preventive measures.