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. 2025 Aug;30(9):2172-2182.
doi: 10.1177/13591053241295892. Epub 2024 Nov 21.

The roles of self-compassion and social support on the maternal adjustment to a child's hip dysplasia

Bruna Veloso  1   2   3 , Lara Palmeira  1   2 , Lénia Carvalhais  1   4 , Joana Marta-Simões  2   3 , Inês A Trindade  3
Affiliations

The roles of self-compassion and social support on the maternal adjustment to a child's hip dysplasia

Bruna Veloso et al. J Health Psychol. 2025 Aug.

Abstract

Parenthood can be challenging when facing a child's chronic illness such as developmental dysplasia of the hip (DDH). Although social support is known as a protective factor for the caregiver's mental health, the role of self-compassion is less explored. This study, conducted in Portugal, explored whether self-compassion and social support mediate the relationship between mothers' psychological adjustment and perception of their child's illness. Ninety-four mothers of children with DDH completed questionnaires on illness perception, self-compassion, perceived social support, and psychological distress. Results suggested that self-compassion and social support mediated the relationship between mothers' overall negative perception of the children's illness and psychological distress. The final model accounted for 50% of the variance of depressive symptoms, 40% of anxiety, and 63% of perceived stress. This study highlights the potential value of encouraging mothers to seek social support when facing their child's DDH diagnosis. Promoting self-compassion may be important in clinical intervention.

Keywords: chronic illness in children; hip dysplasia; maternal adjustment; self-compassion; social support.

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Conflict of interest statement

Declaration of conflicting interestsThe authors declared no potential conflicts of interest with respect to the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article.

Figures

Figure 1.
Figure 1.
Final path model. Standardized path coefficients among variables are presented. All path coefficients are statistically significant. *p < 0.05. ***p < 0.001.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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