Stress and Coping Strategies in Parents of Children with Physical, Mental, and Hearing Disabilities in Jordan

Abstract

<p>This research aimed to investigate levels of stress in parents of children with disabilities in<br />Jordan, and coping strategies they used to handle these stresses. An Arabic translation of<br />Parental Stress Scale (Berry, &amp; Jones, 1995) and Coping Strategies Inventory (Tobin, et al.,<br />1989) were used on a sample of 134 parents of children with physical, mental, and hearing<br />disabilities enrolled in diurnal special education centers. The results indicted high levels of<br />stress experienced by parents of children with disabilities; Parents of children with physical<br />disability tend to have the highest levels of stress, while parents of children with hearing<br />impairment have the lowest levels of stress. The results also showed that engagement coping<br />strategies were frequently more used in parents, with preference to use problem focused<br />engagement strategies more than emotion focused engagement strategies. In the other hand,<br />fathers of children with disabilities preferred to use engagement strategies more likely than<br />mothers who preferred disengagement strategies. And finally, the results indicated high<br />positive and significant correlation and acceptable predictable relation between levels of<br />stress and coping strategies.</p>