title: Group intervention for burnout in parents of chronically ill children - a small-scale study.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Long-term stress leading to burnout symptoms is prevalent in parents of chronically ill children. The aim of the study was to evaluate the effect of a group intervention by measuring changes in self-rated clinical burnout and performance-based self-esteem. In addition, the parental perceptions of the acceptability of the intervention were explored.
  
  
  METHODS
  Previously, we have explored the prevalence of clinical burnout in parents of patients 1-18 years with type 1 diabetes mellitus (T1DM) and inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) in the county of Örebro. All parents who exhibited clinical burnout symptoms in accordance with the Shirom-Melamed Burnout Questionnaire (SMBQ) were then invited to participate in a group intervention, which was evaluated in the present small-scale study. The group intervention consisted of eight sessions over a 12-week period, including education about behaviour, cognition and symptoms associated with burnout, intending to help the parents to develop adequate strategies for coping with and reducing stress. We evaluated the effect of the intervention in terms of self-rated clinical burnout and performance-based self-esteem (PBSE). In addition, the acceptability of the intervention was evaluated by analyses of recruitment and retention and self-reports from parents.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Sixteen parents (13 of children with TIDM and three of children with IBD) out of 104 reporting clinical burnout participated in the intervention. All participants completed the intervention, and the mean attendance rate at all sessions was 90%. Parents' subjective evaluations were mainly positive, and SMBQ (p = 0.01) and PBSE scale (p = 0.04) measurements were significantly reduced, which effects remained 6 months after completion of the intervention.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Despite the small-scale study, we consider that this intervention for parents with clinical burnout was appreciated and well accepted. The significant reduction in clinical burnout symptoms requires further evaluation in randomised controlled studies based on larger groups of parents.
authors.affiliation: Department of Pediatrics, Faculty of Medicine and Health, Örebro University, Örebro, Sweden.|School of Health and Medical Sciences, Örebro University, Örebro, Sweden.
authors.forename: Caisa
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Lindström
authors.affiliation: Department of Pediatrics, Faculty of Medicine and Health, Örebro University, Örebro, Sweden.|School of Health and Medical Sciences, Örebro University, Örebro, Sweden.
authors.forename: Jan
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Åman
authors.affiliation: Centre for Health Care Science, Faculty of Medicine and Health, Örebro University, Örebro, Sweden.
authors.forename: Agneta
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Anderzén-Carlsson
authors.affiliation: Department of Woman and Child Health, Karolinska Institutet, Stockholm, Sweden.
authors.forename: Annika
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Lindahl Norberg
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D002908:Chronic Disease; D003922:Diabetes Mellitus, Type 1 / Q000628:therapy*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D015212:Inflammatory Bowel Diseases / Q000628:therapy*; D008297:Male; D010290:Parents / Q000523:psychology*; D011615:Psychotherapy, Group; D012647:Self-Assessment; D013315:Stress, Psychological
keywords: burnout; chronic illness; diabetes; inflammatory bowel disease; intervention; parenting stress