The Study and Comparison of Stress Levels and Coping Strategies in Parents of Exceptional (Mentally Retarded, Blind and Deaf) and Normal Children in Zahedan

Abstract

Since the presence of an exceptional child imposes many irreversible negative effects on the mental health of the family, and deeply influences the communication methods between family members, implementing some coping strategies for stressful situations is essential. These strategies are, in fact, coping skills which include emotion – focused and problem –focused methods.This study is conducted to evaluate stress levels and coping strategies in parents of exceptional (mentally retarded, blind and deaf) and normal children .The method used in this study is of descriptive- surveying type which was implemented among parents of exceptional (mentally retarded, blind and deaf) and normal children, enrolled as students of elementary schools in Zahedan. The samples were randomly chosen from parents of 110 normal, 55 mentally retarded, 40 deaf and 21 blind children. Two questionnaires on stress origins and coping strategies by Lazarus and Folkman were applied as the methods of research. Analysis of data was carried out by spss soft ware, especially using its descriptive and inferential statistics. The mean stress score in parents of exceptional children is significantly higher than parents of normal children. The parents of normal and exceptional children use stress coping strategies to the same extent.