Comparison of parenting stress between parents of children with special needs and those with normal children: A special focus on paternal stress

Abstract

Introduction: Parenting is a major form of stress, especially in children with special needs. Chronic conditions of disability, may be medical, psychological or emotional, make extra demands on parents, resulting in stress. Objective : i) To evaluate parenting stress among parents (mother & father) of children with special needs and normal children. ii) To compare parenting stress among fathers of special children and normal children. Materials and Methods: Parenting stress was assessed using Sheldon Cohen Perceived Stress Scale questionnaire on i) Parents of 10 0 special needs[study group (i)] and 10 0 normal [control group (ii)] children aged between 5 and 12 years. ii) Fathers of 100 special needs children [study group (ii)] and fathers of 100 normal children [control group (ii)]. The Questionnaire was provided to both parents, they were seated separately in order to avoid bias. Statistical analysis was done using Unpaired t-test. Results : i) The study group scored higher as compared to the control group with their means and standard deviations being (18.914 + 5.24) and (16.12 + 4.18) respectively. The statistical value of significance (p value) is 0.000 9. ii) The fathers of children with special needs scored higher than fathers of normal children with their means and standard deviations being (18.61 + 4.78) and (16.43 + 3.32) respectively, with the p value being 0.02. Conclusion: The parents of special children had significantly higher parenting stress levels as compared to the parents of normal children and fathers of special need children were more stressed than the fathers of normal children. It is important to address this stress as it could lead to impairments of overall quality of life in both parents and their child or children. Keywords: Parenting stress, Paternal stress, Children with special needs.