Religious Coping, Hopelessness and Quality of Life in Mothers of Children in Pediatric Cardiac Surgery Intensive Care Unit

ABSTRACT Introduction: Congenital heart diseases are among the leading causes of infant mortality. Objective: This research investigated the religious coping, hopelessness and quality of life in mothers of children who underwent open heart surgery and were hospitalized in the Pediatric Cardiac Surgery Intensive Care Unit. Methods: In the study, data were collected from 225 mothers whose children underwent open-heart surgery using a Demographic Form, Religious and Spiritual Coping Scale, Beck Hopelessness Scale, and Quality of Life Scale. Results: It was found that while the hopelessness sub-dimension and total score and the negative religious coping scale sub-dimension mean scores were low, the positive religious coping scale sub-dimension mean scores were high and the quality of life scale mean scores were moderate. It was determined that there was a negative relationship between the negative religious coping sub-dimension and the quality of life scale's general health status, social relations, and environment sub-dimensions, and between the quality of life scale and the hopelessness scale. Conclusion: It can be said that more studies are needed to understand the relationship between the religious coping styles of mothers with children with congenital heart disease and their levels of hope and quality of life, and to eliminate the contradictions in the literature. Keyswords: Pediatric, Cardiac Surgery, Hopelessness, Religious Coping, Quality of Life.