the role of resilience and defense styles in caregiver burden among the mothers of children with cancer: a descriptive-correlational study

Background: the diagnosis of childhood cancer can be considered a multidimensional crisis for parents, particularly mothers.objectives: this study aimed to determine the predictive role of defense styles and resilience in the caregiver burden experienced by mothers of children with cancer. methods: this descriptive-analytical study focuses on mothers of children with cancer who were hospitalized in the pediatric wards of seyed al-shohada hospital in isfahan, iran. a total of 136 participants were selected using convenience sampling. the study utilized the defense styles questionnaire (dsq-40), the zarit burden scale (zbs), and the connor-davidson resilience scale (cd-risc) to collect data. the data were analyzed using stata16. results: on average, mothers had a caregiver burden score of 38.65 and a resilience score of 93.51. the majority of mothers (62.5%) exhibited neurotic defensive styles. the regression test results indicated a significant inverse relationship between caregiver burden and resilience (p = 0.002), as well as a significant relationship between the child’s sex and caregiver burden (p < 0.05). conclusions: based on the study's findings, it is recommended that counseling and psycho-cognitive programs be designed, developed, implemented, and evaluated to enhance the resilience of mothers of children with cancer and thereby reduce their caregiver burden.