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©The Author(s) 2026. Published by Baishideng Publishing Group Inc. All rights reserved.
World J Psychiatry. Jan 19, 2026; 16(1): 114555
Published online Jan 19, 2026. doi: 10.5498/wjp.v16.i1.114555
Published online Jan 19, 2026. doi: 10.5498/wjp.v16.i1.114555
Relationships among depression, anxiety and suicidal ideation in parents of children with congenital heart defects: A dynamic triad
Josephat M Chinawa, Daberechi K Adiele, Jude T Onyia, Vivan O Onukwuli, Paschal U Chime, Department of Paediatrics, College of Medicine, University of Nigeria, University of Nigeria Teaching Hospital, Enugu 01129, Nigeria
Awoere T Chinawa, Department of Community Medicine, Enugu State University College of Medicine, Enugu 01129, Nigeria
Edmund N Ossai, Department of Community Medicine, Ebonyi State University Abakaliki, Abakaliki 40001, Ebonyi, Nigeria
Co-corresponding authors: Josephat M Chinawa and Paschal U Chime.
Author contributions: Chinawa JM conceived and designed this study; Chinawa JM, Adiele DK, Chinawa AT, Ossai EN, Onyia JT, Onukwuli VO, and Chime PU helped in the critical revision of the article; Ossai EN performed the data analysis/interpretation.
Institutional review board statement: This information was obtained from the Research and Ethics Committee of the University Teaching Hospital of Study with institutional review board number NHREC/05/01/2008B-FWA00002458-1RBO0002323, whereas verbal informed consent was obtained from the mothers who brought their children to the health facility.
Informed consent statement: Informed consent was obtained from a parent and/or legal guardian for study participation. In addition, all methods were performed in accordance with the relevant guidelines and regulations in the Declaration of Helsinki.
Conflict-of-interest statement: All the authors report no relevant conflicts of interest for this article.
STROBE statement: The authors have read the STROBE Statement-checklist of items, and the manuscript was prepared and revised according to the STROBE Statement-checklist of items.
Data sharing statement: Data are provided within the manuscript.
Open Access: This article is an open-access article that was selected by an in-house editor and fully peer-reviewed by external reviewers. It is distributed in accordance with the Creative Commons Attribution NonCommercial (CC BY-NC 4.0) license, which permits others to distribute, remix, adapt, build upon this work non-commercially, and license their derivative works on different terms, provided the original work is properly cited and the use is non-commercial. See: https://creativecommons.org/Licenses/by-nc/4.0/
Corresponding author: Josephat M Chinawa, PhD, Academic Fellow, FACC, FESC, Professor, Department of Paediatrics, College of Medicine, University of Nigeria, University of Nigeria Teaching Hospital, 10 Thinkers Estate Enugu, Enugu 01129, Nigeria.
Received: September 23, 2025
Revised: September 27, 2025
Accepted: November 4, 2025
Published online: January 19, 2026
Processing time: 99 Days and 14.8 Hours
Revised: September 27, 2025
Accepted: November 4, 2025
Published online: January 19, 2026
Processing time: 99 Days and 14.8 Hours
Core Tip
Core Tip: High scores for anxiety have been reported among parents of children with congenital heart disease (CHD). To date, studies on whether there is any connection between depression, anxiety and suicidal ideation among parents of children with CHD are rare. The parents of children with CHD tend to become anxious and depressed and are withdrawn following the diagnosis of heart disease. There are several frameworks that aptly describe the interconnectedness of depression, anxiety and suicidal ideation among parents of children with CHD.