WELLNESS SUPPORT AND RESILIENT COPING AS STRENGTHENING DETERMINANTS TO REDUCE PARENTAL STRESS HAVING CHILDREN WITH CONGENITAL DISEASE

Abstract

Parents of children with congenital heart disease (CHD) face substantial emotional, psychological, and practical challenges due to continuous medical care, uncertainty regarding prognosis, and intense interaction with healthcare systems. Healthcare support, including effective communication, empathy, reliability, and structured assistance, has been shown to reduce parental stress and enhance wellbeing. The present study aimed to examine the relationship between healthcare support and parental stress, with mental wellbeing as a mediator and resilient coping as a moderator among parents of children diagnosed with CHD. Using a correlational research design, data were collected from 296 parents recruited from public sector hospitals through purposive sampling. Standardized tools assessed healthcare support, mental wellbeing, resilient coping, and parental stress. Findings indicated that healthcare support significantly predicted mental wellbeing and parental stress, mental wellbeing mediated the relationship between healthcare support and parental stress, and resilient coping moderated the link between mental wellbeing and stress, such that higher coping strengthened the stress-reducing effect of wellbeing. These results highlight the need for comprehensive healthcare frameworks that promote empathetic communication, accurate information, and resilience-focused interventions to reduce caregiver burden.