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Anxiety and Depression among Parents of Children with Intellectual Disability in Pakistan
Abstract and Figures
Studies have shown an association between parental distress and caretaking of children with developmental cognitive delays. There is little data in developing countries, such as Pakistan, concerning the impact of raising children with intellectual disability upon the quality of parent functioning and risk for psychopathology.
To assess the level of psychopathology i.e. anxiety, depression and both anxiety and depression together among parents of children with intellectual disability (ID).
This was a cross-sectional study conducted at a tertiary care hospital in Pakistan. The study was approved by the Institutional Research Committee. Participants were 198 parents (99 fathers/99 mothers) of 100 children with the diagnosis of ID. Informed consents were obtained. The parents were assessed for anxiety and depression using DSM IV criteria.
Significantly high proportion of mothers (89%) had anxiety, depression, or both anxiety and depression together as compared to fathers (77%) (p-value <0.05). Among mothers, 35% met criteria for anxiety, 40% for depression and 13% for both anxiety and depression. Among fathers 42% had anxiety, 31% depression and 3% both anxiety and depression. There was a significant association between gender of parent and individual psychiatric diagnosis of anxiety, depression and anxiety and depression together (p-value <0.05). A significant association was also found between mother's anxiety, depression or both and degree of ID of their children (p-value <0.05).
1) Significantly high proportion of parents of children with ID has psychiatric diagnosis of anxiety, depression or both; 2) the psychiatric diagnosis of anxiety, depression and anxiety and depression together is associated with gender of parent; and, 3) the diagnosis of anxiety, depression or both in mothers was associated with severity of ID in their children.
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... However, such help may not always be readily available and the parents of children with such conditions have significant levels of stress and caregiver burden (Syed et al., 2020). Specifically, mothers of children with intellectual disabilities face higher levels of depression and anxiety than fathers (Azeem et al., 2013). The underlying cause of this difference has been explained in terms of gender roles and responsibilities associated with motherhood, as in Pakistan, mothers are mostly responsible for the childcare; therefore, this is understood to be the reason for the higher levels for distress (Azeem et al., 2013). ...
... Specifically, mothers of children with intellectual disabilities face higher levels of depression and anxiety than fathers (Azeem et al., 2013). The underlying cause of this difference has been explained in terms of gender roles and responsibilities associated with motherhood, as in Pakistan, mothers are mostly responsible for the childcare; therefore, this is understood to be the reason for the higher levels for distress (Azeem et al., 2013). ...
The scientific literature has evidenced that certain educational and dialogic actions have been successful at increasing the quality of social interactions and improving mental health, among other beneficial aspects. One of these dialogic actions is the dialogic literary gathering (DLG). The impacts of DLGs have been demonstrated in Europe and South America but have yet to be explored in Eastern culture. The goal of the current study was to analyze the transferability of DLGs within South Asian culture in Pakistan. Specifically, the aim was to identify how the DLGs impacted the social interactions of middle-aged to older adults who were caregivers for children with disabilities. This research used a qualitative case study design with a communicative methodology to study a group of adult family members at a special education school who participated in the DLGs. Data collection included interviews, focus groups, and observations, and a thematic analysis was carried out. Based on the analysis, four broad categories emerged: cognitive engagement, mental well-being, self-development, and social–emotional experiences. Overall, the results demonstrate that the DLGs facilitated positive self-changes among participants, enabling them to experience and express a wide range of emotions through social interactions.
... Sleep problems, including poor quality of sleep, have been reported to be common among mothers with children with SHCN, including those with physical disabilities [4,5]. In addition, mothers of children with developmental disabilities have higher anxiety levels [6]. Prolonged fatigue, poor sleep quality and anxiety affect the physical health of the mothers. ...
... Although it has been reported in the literature that mothers of children with disabilities develop problems over time such as fatigue, anxiety, poor sleep quality, and chronic musculoskeletal system pain [3,[6][7][8][9], no studies on rehabilitative and supportive exercise therapies for mothers have been performed to eliminate these problems. From a review of the literature, only a few studies were found [38][39][40] that compared the effectiveness of breathing and stabilization exercises on LBP patients. ...
BACKGROUND and OBJECTIVE: Caring for a child with a disability affects musculoskeletal system pain, fatigue, sleep quality, and anxiety of the mothers. The purpose of the study was to determine the effectiveness of breathing exercises in mothers with chronic non-specific low back pain (NLBP). METHODS: Forty-three mothers with chronic NLBP were randomly assigned to the experimental group (n = 23) and the control group (n = 20). The experimental group received breathing exercises with core stabilization exercises (BSET) for three sessions a week for 8 weeks, and the control group performed stabilization exercises (SET) only, for the same period. Pain severity, fatigue, anxiety, and sleep quality were evaluated before and after the treatment programs. RESULTS: After the treatment programs, significant differences were observed in pain, fatigue, and sleep quality in both groups (p < 0.05). However, the BSET group showed a significantly better improvement in anxiety levels and sleep quality than the SET group (p < 0.05). CONCLUSIONS: The improvements in pain, fatigue and sleep quality were seen in both groups after treatment programs. It is recommended breathing exercises are added to core stabilization programs to provide greater improvements in anxiety level and sleep quality for mothers of children with disabilities, who have NLBP.
... The ID carers may therefore be at risk of experiencing psychological distress. Our findings replicate those from two studies conducted in India and Pakistan, which reported that caregivers of individuals with ID faced significantly higher levels of psychological distress than caregivers of people with other mental disorders [31,32]. The impact on the family carer's psychological status may relate to the severity of the intellectual disability and dependency. ...
Around the world, family caregivers are an important source of support for people with intellectual disability (ID) and for those with severe mental disorder (SMD), although the level of support can be influenced by the culture and government healthcare systems in each country. However, there is little evidence about the mental health and coping mechanisms of these caregivers in low-income countries. To address this need, we aimed to elicit whether there are potential links between coping style, mental health, and perceived burden experienced by this group, using a sample from a central Asian upper middle-income country. Methods: We recruited 120 participants, of which 60 were caregivers of people with ID and 60 of people with SMD. All participants were recruited from Ulaanbaatar, the capital city of Mongolia, Central Asia, and were asked to complete of the Depression, Anxiety and Stress Scale (DASS) and the Coping Orientation to Problems Experienced inventory scale (COPE). Multiple regression analyses were used to investigate associations between these measures. Results: We found that DASS scores were significantly higher among the sample of caregivers of individuals with ID than in those of SMD. Mental and behavioral disorders were associated with higher DASS scores in the sample of caregivers of those with SMD. Good coping styles, indicated by higher scores in the COPE, were associated with increased age in caregivers of individuals with ID. Conclusion: Although overall the carers of people with SMD appeared to have better active coping skills and better acceptance of the caring role, they demonstrated comparatively high levels of stress. This study was not registered.
... Recent studies have attributed the scope and distribution of caregiver stress as being shaped by factors like the disease severity, social structures, duration, and the extent of their involvement in caring. [21][22][23][24] Caregiving leaves individuals feeling overwhelmed and powerless and has also been linked to such secondary adverse outcomes as productivity challenges in the workplace as well as strained interpersonal relationships. 25 Studies in Kenya showed that caregiving of children with differing chronic illnesses not only cause considerable mental health challenges but also placed the children at higher risks of developing mental health conditions. ...
Background: Childhood bronchoasthma consistently pose diverse caregiving burdens yet, magnitude of these and coping mechanisms adopted by caregivers are infrequently assessed during routine care only focused on index patients. Methods: A partially mixed descriptive cross-sectional study was conducted for a minimum of 408 respondents. The results were presented in form of tables and text. Results: A total of 408 caregivers were surveyed, with a mean age of 33 years (SD=9.86). Majority (78.7%) were actual parents of whom 73.5% were married. Primary-level education was the highest attained by 64% of caregivers while those earning <10,000 KES per month were 76% with about 3 out 4 being self-employed. Significant psychological concerns include sleep disturbance on the night previous to the interview, caregivers’ concern about the child's asthma medication and side effects. Work absenteeism; reduced total annual income; lost job; discontinued child schooling and delayed family investment/cut budgets were significant social/economic burdens. Most caregivers used escape-avoidance coping mechanisms with a significant majority being involved in substance abuse (72.3%); feeling helpless or downplayed the severity of symptoms because of myths and stigma. Young age (p=0.002); being widowed (p=0.040), and being of low level of education (p<0.001) were associated with poor coping mechanisms. Conclusions: There was considerable prevalence of psychological burden and socio-economic status among caregivers with significant majority using adversarial coping mechanisms, particularly among socio-economically disadvantaged.
Stigma masyarakat terhadap anak disabilitas terkadang masih kuat pada kumpulan masyarakat ini, karena rendahnya pengetahuan dan faktor sosial budaya. Anak penyandang disabilitas memiliki banyak hambatan pada beberapa aspek perkembangan sehingga memerlukan terapi, sarana dan prasarana serta bentuk dukungan dalam penerimaan dirinya. manajemen stress merujuk pada identifikasi dan analisis terhadap permasalahan yang terkait dengan stres dan aplikasi berbagai alat teraupetik untuk mengubah sumber stres atau pengalaman stres. Teknik Relaksasi Nafas Dalam (Deep Breathing) adalah suatu teknik olah nafas yang bertujuan untuk meningkatkan ventilasi alveoli dan mengurangi stres baik stres fisik maupun emosional yaitu menurunkan intensitas nyeri dan menurunkan kecemasan. Solusi dalam pengabdian ini: 1) Upaya membantu anak disabilitas dalam mengatasi penerimaan diri, 2) Memberikan pelatihan deep breathing dan managemen stress bagi anak disabilitas dalam penerimaan diri untuk mengatasi permasalahan yang terjadi pada mereka Di Yayasan Rumah Disabilitas Borneo Banjarmasin. Kegiatan pelatihan ini dilaksanakan selama 1 kali pertemuan atau setara dengan 2,5 jam pelatihan dengan berbagai metode seperti ceramah, demonstrasi, dan praktek tersupervisi. Khalayak sasaran pada kegiatan ini adalah 11 anak penyandang disabilitas pada yayasan rumah disabilitas borneo Banjarmasin. Hasil evaluasi menunjukkan terjadi peningkatan penerimaan diri anak penyandang disabilitas tunarungu setelah diberikan pelatihan deep breathing dan managemen stress.
Background: Management of behavioral and emotional problems of children with autism spectrum disorders (ASDs) is a great concern for parents in a resource-poor country like Bangladesh. Parents' needs from professionals are very crucial in designing and delivering psychological service for this. Objective: This study was aimed to find out psychological service needs of the parents of children (4-12 years old) with ASD. Materials and Methods: A total of 27 parents who were the primary caregivers of the autistic children participated in the study during 2016. All the participants were selected from a school for special children in Dhaka. Permission from the respective authority was obtained and informed consent was taken from all the participants prior to data collection. Parents' responses were collected through interviews and severity of anxiety and depression of parents were determined using valid psychometric tools. Obtained quantitative data were analyzed using SPSS, version 20. and qualitative data were analyzed according to categorization of themes. Results: 84.60% of the parents of younger children (4-6 years old) and 64.30% parents of the older children (7-12 years old) with ASD suffered from mild to profound levels of anxiety. The study also revealed that 84.60% of the parents of younger children and 78.60% parents of the older children (7-12 years old) with ASD suffered from mild to severe levels of depression. Parents of these children reported behavioral, communication, social and cognitive disturbances shown by the children with ASD. Most of the parents (46.2% parents of 4-6 years old children and 42.9% parents of 7-12 years old children with ASD) reported the need for psychological service over other services. Conclusion: Despite receiving service from a special school for children with ASD, psychological services for both parents and children are critically needed for better care and management.
Parents of children with disabilities confront numerous challenges from childbirth, sorted into five types. First, emotional hurdles, emerging during childbirth, involve denial, guilt, anger, depression, anxiety, bargaining, fear, exhaustion, and stress. Second, financial burdens, encompassing treatment expenses, medications, equipment, and employment obstacles, significantly impact parents. Third, educational challenges faced by disabled parents include funding gaps, school barriers, accommodation shortages, negative attitudes, scheme unawareness, communication barriers, and power dynamics. Fourth, social obstacles, such as stigma, support deficiencies, loneliness, and community bias, affect parents directly and indirectly. Lastly, health challenges, like physical ailments, stress, weight management, and neglecting self-care, affect both parents. These challenges intertwine, necessitating comprehensive understanding and targeted assistance. This chapter explores these complexities, assesses their impact, and examines potential solutions.
Background: Parents of the children and adolescents with intellectual disability (ID) are prone to psychological distress than as compared to parents of normally developing children and adolescents. Various biopsychosocial factors affect the perception and manifestation of this stress and influences difference in quality and severity in psychological outcomes. When a couple faces stress of caregiving as a unit, it is worthwhile to know and assess distribution pattern amongst the primary care giver and the other parent. Aim: The aim of the study is to evaluate the proportional distribution of depression and anxiety in primary care giver and the other parent in parents of children and adolescents with ID. Materials and
Methods: Using a Cross-sectional observational study design, 99 parents (99 fathers and 98 mothers) of 99 children and adolescents (up to 18 yrs of age) with Intellectual Disability were assessed for Depressive and Anxiety symptoms using Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale (HADS). Comparison of proportional distribution of psychiatric morbidity among fathers and mothers (primary care giver) was done using 2 independent sample proportion tests. Results: The mothers were found to be the primary care givers. 35.4% of fathers and 66.3% of mothers
had significant depressive symptoms. 57.6% of fathers and 91.8% of mothers had significant anxiety symptoms. In 33 couples, fathers did not report anxiety or depressive symptoms but corresponding 27 mothers reported significant anxiety or depressive symptoms or both. In rest of the couples in whom fathers reported anxiety and/or depressive symptoms, the corresponding mothers also reported. In six couples where mothers did not report anxiety or depression, the fathers also did not report any anxiety or depressive symptoms. Conclusion: Depressive and Anxiety
symptoms are very prevalent in parents of children with ID. Their proportion is significantly high in primary care giver (mother) as compared to corresponding other parent (father). There is unequal distribution of anxiety and depression in these parents with a skew towards mother.
Abstrak. Orang tua merupakan pengasuh (care giver) utama anak dengan retardasi mental (RM). Anak dengan RM membutuhkan perawatan yang komprehensif dengan melibatkan banyak displin ilmu dan dalam jangka waktu yang lama. Kondisi ini bisa menimbulkan dampak bagi keluarga terutama orang tua sebagai pengasuh utama baik secara fisik, psikologis, dan sosial ekonomi, kondisi ini dapat disebut dengan beban pengasuhan (caregiver burden). Penelitian ini bertujuan untuk mengidentifikasi beban pengasuhan (caregiver burden) orang tua pada anak dengan RM. Metode yang digunakan dalam penelitian ini adalah deskriptif. Penelitian dilakukan di SLB Negeri Wiradesa dengan jumlah responden sebanyak 110. Pengambilan data dilakukan dengan menggunakan kuesioner Zarit Caregiver Burden Assessment (Short, 12-items). Penelitian menunjukkan hasil bahwa sebagian besar responden 62,7% masuk dalam kategori beban pengasuhan ringan sampai sedang, 20% beban pengasuhan tinggi, dan 17,3% tidak ada beban pengasuhan sampai ringan. Beban pengasuhan ringan sampai sedang dan tinggi dapat menimbukan dampak pada pengasuh berupa caregiver burnout atau stress akibat pengasuhan jangka panjang oleh sebab itu perlu dilakukan berbagai upaya pencegahan dengan berbagai intervensi dengan melibatkan pihak sekolah seperti dengan mengajarkan manajemen stress. Kata kunci: Beban pengasuhan, Retardasi mental Parental Caregiver Burden in Children with Mental Retardation Abstract . Parents are the main caregivers for children with mental retardation (RM). Children with RM require comprehensive treatment involving many disciplines and over a long period of time. This condition can have an impact on the family, especially parents as the main caregivers, both physically, psychologically and socio-economically. This condition can be called the caregiving burden. This study aims to identify the caregiver burden of parents in children with RM. The method used in this research is descriptive. The research was conducted at the Wiradesa State Special School with a total of 110 respondents. Data collection was carried out using the Zarit Caregiver Burden Assessment questionnaire (Short, 12-items). The research showed that the majority of respondents, 62.7%, fell into the category of light to moderate caregiving burden, 20% had high caregiving burden, and 17.3% had no to light caregiving burden. Light to moderate and high caregiving burdens can have an impact on caregivers in the form of caregiver burnout or stress due to long-term caregiving, therefore it is necessary to carry out various preventative efforts with various interventions involving the school, such as teaching stress management. Keywords: Caregiver Burden, Mental Retardation
Objective: Existing research studies suggest that parenting a child with mental retardations can be a stressful experience. However, there are few data addressing the question of how parents might experience considerable anxiety, how they might cope with this anxiety, and how this anxiety in parents of children with a mental retardation affect parental attitude. The purpose of this study was to examine the relationships among parental attitude and their anxiety and coping strategy in parents of children with mental disabilities. Materials and Methods: The sample was consisted of 96 parents who had mental retarded children, admitted to the neurology outpatient clinic of Dr. Behçet Uz Children's Hospital. Three instruments were used to explore the presence of probable coping strategy, parental attitude and anxiety of the parent: The Parental Attitude Research Instrument (PARI), The Coping Strategy Indicator (CSI), State-Trait Anxiety Inventory (STAI, SAI and TAI) were administered in an interview format. All the parents were informed about the study and were gave written informed consent. Results: Parents' mean age was 33.90±10.1 in research group. Parents took an average 43.7±5.9 points in SAI, 43.1±15 point in TAI. The highest average point was problem solving subscale of CSI and the highest average point was overeager mother subscale of the PARI. Positive correlation (p=0.000, r=-0.52 and p=0.000, r=-0.41) between state and trait anxiety and overeager mother, and a negative correlation between state and trait anxiety and rejection of the homemaking role (p=0.000, r=0.59 and p=0.041, r=0.31), marital conflict (p=0.000, r=0.66 and p=0.005, r=0.39) were detected that we evaluate parents anxiety effect on parental attitude. It has been found that state and trait anxiety is negative correlated with problem solving (p=0.000, r=-0.38 and p=0.000, r=-0.44) and trait anxiety and is negative correlated with seeking social support (p=0.000, r=-0.27). Conclusion: At the end of the study, it was found to be high trait anxiety on parents who have a retarded child. Generally parents use problem solving for coping strategy with stress. Overeager mother attitude was dominant attitude among parents.
To determine the difficulties of mothers living with children suffering from intellectual disabilities, and the influence of socio-demographic factors aggravating the situation.
The study was conducted from September to December 2009 in Odemis, Izmir in western Turkey, in one public-sector and two private-sector rehabilitation centres for disabled children. The research sample consisted of mothers with primary responsibility for 168 disabled children between the ages of 3 and 18 years. Data was collected using a pre-designed Personal Information Form, which had two sections. The first part contained 20 items about the socio-demographic data of the families and the children, their knowledge about mental disabilities and support for childcare. The second part consisted of 18 items which related to the most frequently encountered problems in terms of daily care, as well as the financial, psychological and social aspects. Data, collected through face-to-face interviews spanning 30-40 minutes, was analysed using analysis of variance and student's t test.
Of the 168 mothers, 64 (38.1%) said they experienced sadness; 72 (42.9%) anger; and 32 (19.1%) felt lonely. As many as 92 (54.8%) mothers were blamed by their in-laws for the disability in their respective children. Only 50 (29.8%) parents in the study said they had "sometimes" felt acceptance of their disabled child.
The psychological situation of parents with disabled children is an issue of particular concern, and psychological consultancy and guidance should be provided to such families to enable them to overcome their negative emotions and the consequent problems.
Objective: To study the prevalence of minor psychiatric disorders in a rural community and to investigate its relationship with socio-economic variable. Design: It is a two-stage double blind study carried out using SRP, BSI, PAS, +ICD-10 (DCR). Place and Duration: Study was carried out in a basic health unit of a village 15 km south of Gujar Khan, in 1997, ralied for 6 months. Results: The study showed that 66% of women and 25% of men were suffering from anxiety and depressive disorders. Negative correlation was found between BSI and socio-economic factors. Conclusion: The study confirmed the inverse relationship between socio-economic status and psychiatric disorders, confirming previous studies.
Data were obtained from mothers and fathers of children (N = 231) with mental retardation (MR) or chronic illness (CI), and a nondisabled behavior-problems sample. Mothers identified fewer behavior problems in children with MR and more in children with CI than did teachers. The presence of significant behavior problems was more important than disability type in determining most forms of parental stress, and predicted mental health services use. MR group parents worried most about providing ongoing care into adulthood. Single mothers were not more stressed, but used more services than two-parent families. The results call for a wider array of community and family support services that target children with disabilities who have behavior problems.
Aging mothers of adults with mental illness and aging mothers of adults with mental retardation were contrasted with respect to their levels of stress, social support resources and the extent to which social support was predictive of their level of caregiving burden and depressive symptoms. Although mothers of adults with mental illness had smaller social support networks than mothers of adults with mental retardation, they were more likely to be members of support groups and have at least one friend also caring for a relative with disabilities. In addition, social support was a more prominent predictor of changes in burden and depressive symptoms in mothers of adults with mental illness, suggesting the importance of the social context for their psychological well-being.
Fathers and mothers of 628 mentally challenged individuals are assessed for their perceived stress using Family Interview for Stress and Coping in Mental Retardation (FISC-MR). Socio demographic data pertaining to the mentally challenged individuals and their parents are collected. To assess behaviour disorder, BASIC-MR, Part B is used. Results show that mothers report higher stress compared to fathers, the difference being significant at 0.001 level. Most of the parents report mild to moderate stress and none of them report very high stress. In the areas of care, emotional and social stress, mothers report higher stress and in the area of financial stress, both fathers and mothers report equal levels of stress. It is noticed that more than one mentally challenged children in the family; higher levels of behaviour disorder; lower age of the mentally challenged individual and parents; and lower income of the family are associated with higher stress. Once the parents come to realize that their child is mentally challenged; they are confronted with many challenges and problems. The nature of stress and areas of stress in parents of the mentally challenged have been studied extensively. Seth (1979) reported care stress and social stress in 83% of mothers, emotional stress in 80% of mothers and financial problem in 47% of mothers. Prabhu (1989) finds care stress, social stress and financial stress in parents. Venkatesan & Das (1994) report that the type of burden reported by family members may range from difficulties in transportation of the child to the place of service delivery, management of behaviour problems, disruption of their daily routine, economic, physical and social burden. Pariante & Carpiniello (1996) report more of emotional distress, poor social relationships and lack of holidays or free time. Various factors attributing to stress in such parents have been studied. Datta, Russell, Swamidas, Gopalakrishna & Seetha (2002) find that expressed emotions toward the child, age of the child and income as important factors associated with burden. Gupta & Jain (2002) find that less educated, low income group and rural parents have more problems with their spastic mentally handicapped children. In the present study, some of the child characteristics namely; gender, IQ, age, presence of behaviour problems, number of mentally challenged children in the family and number of siblings in the family are studied. Similarly, parent characteristics namely; age, education, income, rural-urban status, occupation and presence of grandparents are studied.
The present study examines stress among parents of children with intellectual disability. 102 parents formed the sample of this study, 30 of whom had children without disability. A stress assessment test with internal validity of 0.608 was utilised. This test has two parts: physical and mental, former with 19 items and latter with 21 items. T test was applied to check differences in stress, gender differences, and differences in mental and physical stress. Results show that, most parents of children with intellectual disability experience stress, physical and mental stress are significantly correlated, gender differences in stress experienced occur only in the mental area, and parents have higher mental stress score as compared to physical stress.
To study the various coping strategies used by the parents of mentally challenged individuals, fathers and mothers of 628 mentally challenged individuals are assessed using the Coping Checklist by Rao K, Subbakrishna and Prabhu, which taps seven coping strategies namely problem solving, positive distraction, negative distraction, acceptance-redefinition, religion-faith, denial-blame, and social support. Results indicate that fathers and mothers differ significantly at 0.001 level with regard to use of all the seven strategies. Other than religion-faith and denial-blame, on all other five strategies the mean is more for fathers. Most of the coping strategies remain unutilized by most of the parents to a proper extent. For fathers, most commonly used coping strategies are problem solving and acceptance-redefinition. For mothers, most commonly used coping strategies are problem solving, religion–faith and denial-blame. Both fathers and mothers use problem-focused coping more often than the emotion-focused coping. Fathers use problem-focused coping more often than the mothers and mothers use emotion-focused coping more often than the fathers. Higher educational level, nonagricultural occupation, higher income and urban status of the family are the important factors predicting higher levels of coping. The early focus on study of stress was followed by focus on study of coping as well. Van (1999) opines that research in future needs to shift the focus from assessing stress and distress, to assessing resilience and adaptation, because there is need for an understanding of the factors that contribute to resilience and successful adaptation. The coping strategies are classified into two types. One is problem-focused and the other one is emotion-focused. In problem-focused coping the person is attempting to deal constructively with the stressor or situation it self; whereas, in emotion-focused coping the focus is on dealing with the person's own fears, anger or guilt.
The present paper focuses on the integration of two research foci in the field of developmental disability: models of the development and maintenance of children's problem behaviours, and parental stress associated with child characteristics. I propose a simple model whereby children's behaviour problems, parental stress, and parenting behaviour are related. Evidence is found for a central part of this model (that child behaviour problems lead to parental stress), but other aspects are as yet untested in the developmental disability field. Future refinement of the model is discussed, with an emphasis on the role of parental appraisal processes in understanding the mechanisms by which child behaviour problems affect parental well being. Finally, the practical implications of integrating research on children's behaviour problems and parental stress are briefly considered.
Abstract– Autistic children represent a source of stress for their parents, but the most appropriate way to measure this stress is not clear. Two studies in the literature compared parents’and professionals’ratings of symptom severity, and had parents rate the stressfulness of each symptom. The present study sought to replicate past research, and to extend it by validating this method of measuring parental stress compared to more traditional measures. Results indicated that mothers, fathers, and professionals agreed on the severity of child behaviours. Mothers found these behaviours significantly more stressful than fathers. The stress related to specific child behaviours was significantly correlated with more general measures of parental stress.