Abstract
The purpose of this study was to investigate the relationship between social support and mental health in the parents of progressive muscular dystrophy patients from the viewpoint of the difference in gender. Scales on social support, psychological stress response, positive thought on child's muscular dystrophy, and acceptance of muscular dystrophy were administered to 189 fathers and 211 mothers (mean age = 50.19). Results of t-tests indicated that mothers received more support from family members, medical staff, and peers, and that mothers had positive thoughts and acceptance about their child's disease more than father. Results of correlation analysis, divided into father's data and mother's data, suggested the following: (i) social support improved positive thoughts about the disease in fathers, (ii) psychological stress responses were decreased by social support from spouse and family members in mothers, (iii) positive thoughts about the disease were improved by support from family members, medical staff, and peers in mothers. Moreover, it was suggested that receiving enough social support from their spouse influenced the mental health of the parents, especially the mother.
