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

Abstract

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