Škreblin, Aneta.
(2017).
Psychological adjustment among parents of children with developmental disabilities.
Diploma Thesis. Filozofski fakultet u Zagrebu, Department of Psychology.
[mentor Kuterovac Jagodić, Gordana].
Abstract
Having a child with developmental disabilities brings different reactions and big challenges for parents, which they face in different ways. The aim of this study was to investigate immediate and long-term negative and positive psychological outcomes of rearing a child with developmental disabilities. We examined posttraumatic stress reactions, coping strategies and degree of posttraumatic growth. 194 parents of children with disabilities (72.7% of mothers) participated in the study. One part of data was collected online and the rest of the data was collected using paper-pencil method in cooperation with the Center for Autism in Zagreb. Participants completed Sociodemographic Questionnaire, the Impact of Event Scale-Revised (IES-R), Croatian version of the COPE scale and the Posttraumatic Growth Inventory (PTGI). The results indicated some differences between mothers and fathers. Mothers use more active coping and report higher levels of posttraumatic growth than fathers. Correlation analysis yielded different relationship patterns of posttraumatic growth, parent’s age, characteristics of the stressful event and coping styles for mothers and fathers. Hierarchical regression analysis showed that these variables explain small, but significant proportion of the growth variance, in both mothers and fathers. Younger age and active coping are significant predictors of more growth among mothers while perception of less threat and more challenge in coping with child’s disabilities are significant predictors of more growth among fathers. There was also a mediating effect of active coping on relationship between stress and posttraumatic growth in mothers. This study emphasizes the importance of focusing expert’s attention on positive outcomes resulting from rearing a child with disabilities and incorporating these results in interventions for parents.
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