Journal of Pediatric Perspectives

Journal of Pediatric Perspectives

The Relationship between Caregiving Burden and Self-efficacy in Mothers of Children with Type 1 Diabetes in Gorgan, Iran

Document Type : original article

Authors
Roghayeh Raiji 1
Zahra Sabzi 2
Somayeh Ghorbani 3
Hamideh Mancheri 1
1 Facualty of Nursing and Midwifery, Golestan University of Medical Sciences, Gorgan, Iran.
2 Nursing Research Center, Golestan University of Medical Sciences, Gorgan, Iran.
3 Deputy of Research and Technology, Golestan University of Medical Sciences, Gorgan, Iran.
10.22038/jpp.2026.94648.5630
Abstract
Background: Caring for children with type 1 diabetic can create caregiving pressure for parents. This pressure can lead to high levels of stress, depression, and low self-efficacy in caregivers. Therefore, this study was conducted to investigate the relationship between caregiving burden and self-efficacy in mothers of children with diabetes.
Methods: This study is a descriptive-analytical cross-sectional study conducted on 167 mothers of children with type 1 diabetes who were referred to the type1diabetes clinic at Taleghani Educational and Medical Center in Gorgan, Northern Iran, Golestan Province in 2023. Data collection was done using a random sampling method proportional to the volume. Demographic characteristics and caregiving burden questionnaires were utilized, along with the Zarit and Berkeley self-efficacy questionnaires. Data were analyzed using IBM SPSS Statistics version 23. Given the distribution of data, t-tests or Mann-Whitney tests were used to compare caregiving burden and self-efficacy between two groups. In cases of more than two groups, one-way analysis of variance or Kruskal-Wallis test was employed. The relationship between variables was measured with Spearman's correlation coefficient, and the significance level was set at 0.05.
Results: The findings revealed that the average age of mothers was 38.98±6.38, with mean caregiving burden and self-efficacy sources of 30.01±11.10 and 83.91±8.33, respectively. This suggests that they experienced a mild caregiving burden and high self-efficacy. A moderate inverse correlation was found between caregiving burden and mothers' self-efficacy (r= -0.378, P=0.000). Significant differences were observed in mothers' caregiving based on their employment (P=0.048) and education (P=0.027). Additionally, there was a weak inverse correlation between caregiving burden and child age (P=0.001, r= -0.264) as well as mother's age (P=0.002, r= -0.177). Furthermore, statistically significant differences were found in mothers' caregiving burden (P<0.001) and self-efficacy (P=0.025) based on ethnicity.
Conclusion: The findings of this study revealed that slightly over half of the participants experienced a mild caregiving burden and most mothers had high self-efficacy. There was a moderate inverse correlation between caregiving burden and self-efficacy among mothers of children with diabetes. Therefore, it is necessary to pay special attention to these variables in mothers of children with type1diabetes so that they can effectively care for their children.
Keywords
Caregiving Burden
Children
Mothers
Self-Efficacy
Type 1 Diabetes
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Journal of Pediatric Perspectives
Volume 14, Issue 2
February 2026
Pages 19900-19911