Avoidant Coping Research Articles

Coexisting with anomie: Experiences of persons living with early-stage dementia: A grounded theory study.

Individuals in the early stages of dementia often endure elevated levels of stress and anxiety, which can hinder their ability to adapt to the progression of dementia. To mitigate the negative impacts of dementia more effectively, it is necessary to explore the trajectory of the adaptation process of persons living with dementia. This study aimed to construct a theoretical framework for the adaptation process of individuals in the early stages of dementia. Participants were dyads of persons diagnosed with mild dementia or mild cognitive impairment (≥ 60 years of age) and their primary family caregivers. This longitudinal study used a grounded theory approach to explore the adaptation trajectory changes in persons with mild dementia over a 3-year period. Data were collected from dyads with face-to-face interviews. Analysis of the interview data revealed the core category was 'Coexisting with anomie: Progressive disappointment and striving', which was comprised of three categories: awareness of alienation, unsettled feelings, and restorative avoidance coping. Categories changed depending on levels of cognition and constituted progressive and cyclical dynamic processes. Four contextual factors positively or negatively influenced adaptation: level of insight about dementia, personal traits, caregiving style of the caregiver, and level of social interactions. These findings provide a new perspective about the mental health of persons in early-stage dementia. Understanding coexisting with anomie and related influencing factors could facilitate the development of support interventions by mental health nursing staff, which could improve emotional safety, promote psychological well-being, and increase quality of life for persons living with dementia.

Beliefs about depression relate to active and avoidant coping in high-symptom adolescents

BackgroundPerceptions of personal attributes as less malleable are associated with more severe depression symptoms and less active coping in youth. Perceptions of depression itself as relatively fixed have been linked to more severe depression symptoms; however, it is not known how beliefs about depression relate to active and avoidant coping behaviors in particular. MethodsWe gathered information about beliefs about depression and activation and avoidance behaviors among 104 adolescents with high depression symptoms. The primary depression belief examined was prognostic pessimism, or the belief that depression is relatively permanent. We calculated correlations between this belief and activation and avoidance/rumination behaviors. ResultsPrognostic pessimism was negatively correlated with behavioral activation scores (r = −0.31; p = .001), and was positively correlated with behavioral avoidance/rumination scores (r = 0.30; p = .002). LimitationsThis data was cross-sectional, and relied on self-report measures of depression beliefs and behaviors. ConclusionsAdolescents who believe that depression is relatively permanent might feel less motivated to engage in effortful activation behaviors, instead favoring avoidance. These results may help elucidate the ways in which malleability beliefs relate to mental health outcomes among adolescents, and highlight prognostic pessimism as a potential treatment target for reducing depressogenic behaviors.

A Cross-sectional Study on the Perceived Stress and Coping Strategies and Their Correlation in the Homosexual and Bisexual Community in North-East India

Abstract Background: Homosexuality and bisexuality have long been prevalent in all parts of the world including India. Many efforts have been put to destigmatize and to make the lives of these people better, and it is no longer considered pathological in the diagnostic systems. Still, they experience higher stigma, discrimination, marginalization, violence, and trauma throughout their lives. Thus, research is needed to evaluate the level of stress and how they cope with it. Objectives: The objectives were to study the sociodemographic profiles of the participants and to explore the stress-coping skills among lesbians, gays, and bisexuals. Methods: It was a cross-sectional descriptive study with a sample size of 50, including 18-year and older homosexual and bisexual participants, with the employment of a snowball sampling technique. A semi-structured sociodemographic pro forma, Klein Sexual Orientation Grid, Perceived Stress Scale (PSS), and Brief Coping with Problem Experienced scales were applied. Results: The mean age of participants was 23.620 ± 3.630. There were 36 (72%) gay, 8 (16%) lesbian, and 6 (12%) bisexual participants. On estimation of stress, 15 (30%) participants had low stress, 27 (54%) had moderate stress, and 8 (16%) participants had high levels of stress. Among coping strategies, the highest mean was for self-distraction (5.70 ± 1.51), followed by acceptance (5.32 ± 1.20). A significant positive correlation between the PSS scores was found with self-blame and avoidant coping strategies. Conclusion: People with homosexual and bisexual orientation are likely to experience higher levels of stress, so it becomes vital to have more research in this field.

Adolescent coping and social media use moderated anxiety change during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Adolescence is a sensitive period during which stressors and social disruptions uniquely contribute to anxiety symptoms. Adolescent's coping strategies (i.e., avoidance and approach) during the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic may be differentially related to anxiety symptom changes. Further, social media use (SMU) is ubiquitous and may serve as an avenue to deploy avoidant and/or approach coping. Participants included 265 adolescents (ages 12-20 years; 55.8% female, 43.8% male) and one parent per adolescent. At two time points separated by ~6 months, adolescents reported on SMU and coping strategies, and parents and adolescents reported demographic information and adolescents' anxiety symptoms. Data were collected online in the United States, from summer 2020 through spring 2021. Increases in avoidant coping predicted increasing anxiety, particularly when approach coping decreased. Decreases in both avoidant coping and SMU coincided with decreasing anxiety. Older adolescents showed decreasing anxiety when avoidant coping declined and SMU increased. Coping strategies and SMU predicted patterns of adolescent anxiety symptom change across 6 months during the COVID-19 pandemic. Results highlight that coping and SMU should be contextualized within the time course of stressors.

Self-compassion and avoidant coping as mediators of the relationship between childhood maltreatment and mental health and alcohol use in young adulthood

BackgroundExposure to childhood maltreatment increases the risk of mental health and substance use problems. Understanding the mechanisms linking maltreatment to these problems is critical for prevention. ObjectiveTo examine whether self-compassion and avoidant coping mediate the relationship between childhood maltreatment and mental ill-health and alcohol use. Participants and settingAustralians aged 18–20 years at baseline were recruited through social media and professional networks. MethodsParticipants (n = 568) completed an online survey, and were followed up annually for two subsequent surveys. Mediation models were conducted with the SPSS PROCESS macro. Maltreatment was the predictor; Wave 2 self-compassion and avoidant coping as mediators; Wave 3 mental health and alcohol use as outcomes. ResultsChildhood maltreatment predicted greater mental health symptoms (b = 0.253, 95 % CI = 0.128–0.378), and alcohol use (b = 0.057, 95 % CI = 0.008–0.107). Both self-compassion (b = 0.056, 95 % CI = 0.019–0.093) and avoidant coping (b = 0.103, 95 % CI = 0.024–0.181) mediated the relationship between maltreatment and mental health. Additionally, avoidant coping, but not self-compassion, mediated the relationship (b = 0.040, 95 % CI 0.020–0.061) with alcohol use. However, when controlling for pre-existing mental health and substance use, neither self-compassion nor avoidant coping mediated the relationship with mental health. Only avoidant coping mediated the link with alcohol use (b = 0.010, 95 % CI = 0.001–0.020). ConclusionsFindings suggests that by adulthood, self-compassion and avoidant coping may not explain future change in mental health symptoms; however, avoidant coping accounts for change in alcohol use across early adulthood. Reducing avoidant coping may prevent hazardous alcohol use across young adulthood among people exposed to childhood maltreatment.

Stress, resilience, and coping in COVID-19 patients and non-COVID-19 people.

The COVID-19 pandemic and the ensuing economic recession hurt people's mental health. To study the stress, resilience, and coping between COVID-19 patients and non-COVID people. A sample of 188 individuals including COVID-positive and negative were selected by snowball sampling method from the Pune area. All the subjects belong to the age group between 20 and 25 years. The variables are studied by using three tools. The tools used were the Student Stress Inventory, Resilience Scale, and Coping Response Inventory. The data obtained was analyzed using a statistical t-test for comparison and one one-way ANOVA test for gender differences on SPSS software. The results showed that there is a significant difference found in stress (t = -3.269) at 0.01 level but no difference found in resilience (t = -0.525), approach coping (t = -1.084), and avoidance coping (t = -1.473) between COVID and non-COVID subjects. Patients with COVID had higher stress levels than those without the disease. In terms of resilience, approach, and avoidant coping, there were no significant differences between COVID and non-COVID subjects.

52 Association Between COVID-19 Coping Strategies and Cognitive Function in Older Adults

Objective:Cognitive function may underlie the use of more adaptive as compared to maladaptive coping strategies to manage pandemic-related stress in older adults. As the composition of coping strategies varies with context, we investigated the factor structure of 14 established coping strategies. We then aimed to determine whether specific coping strategies were associated with cognitive function.Participants and Methods:141 adults aged 50-90 years old completed the study via Zoom. The National Alzheimer’s Coordinating Center TCog battery assessed cognitive function. The Brief Cope, adapted to evaluate COVID-19, measured 14 specific coping strategies.Results:Based on our factor analyses, Avoidant (e.g., denial and substance use) and Approach (e.g., planning, instrumental and emotional support systems) coping composite scores were formed. Regression analyses, adjusted for age and education, indicated that 12.9% of the variance in the use of Avoidance coping strategies was explained by worse performance on measures of episodic memory, executive attention/processing speed, working memory, and verbal fluency. A closer examination indicated that verbal fluency was not a statistically significant contributor to the model. 9.1% of the variance in Approach coping strategies was related to cognitive function with working memory and verbal fluency being statistically significant contributors to the model.Conclusions:Older adults with better performance on higher-order cognitive testing may utilize more effective coping strategies in older adults. These results have implications for attenuating pandemic-related stress and warrant developing brief interventions to help facilitate problem-solving and reduce emotional distress in those with lower cognitive resources.

Étude exploratoire de profils d’enseignants à risque de burnout : association avec les processus de coping et le sentiment d’auto-efficacité

IntroductionBurnout and its predictors are an increasingly important health issue in the teaching profession. ObjectiveThe present study aimed at identifying teacher profiles at risk of burnout, and to explore their associations with coping processes and sense of self-efficacy using a dual variable and person-centered approach. MethodA sample of 171 teachers (58.50% female) from a French-speaking canton of Switzerland completed the Shirom-Melamed Burnout Measure (i.e., physical fatigue, cognitive weariness, emotional exhaustion), the Teachers’ Sense of Efficacy Scale (i.e., instructional strategies, student engagement, classroom management) and the Coping Scale by Dewe (i.e., need to communicate, traditional style of teaching, problem-focused and avoidant coping). ResultsProblem-focused coping was the only variable that negatively predicted all three dimensions of burnout. Avoidant coping negatively predicted physical fatigue and cognitive weariness while classroom management self-efficacy negatively predicted emotional exhaustion. Additional findings suggested the moderating role of the number of students with special educational needs (SEN) in the relationship between some variables. Three profiles were identified based on a hierarchical cluster analysis. Multinomial logistic regression analysis showed that a higher number of students with SEN, as well as low levels of coping (i.e., problem-focused and avoidant) and sense of self-efficacy in classroom management were associated with a greater likelihood of belonging to the burnout risk profile (representing 21.64% of the total sample). ConclusionFindings from this study not only highlight a relatively large proportion of teachers at risk of burnout, but also a possible co-action of some coping processes and sense of self-efficacy.

Stress and coping strategy among coaching and non-coaching students in Kota: A comparative study.

About 1.5 lakh students study in over 100 coaching centers in Kota. There is a highly competitive environment, and students often land up in stress and even suicide. So, the estimation of the magnitude of this problem and timely intervention can be of great value to students. This study aimed to assess and compare stress and coping strategies used by coaching and non-coaching students studying in Kota. This cross-sectional study included 90 coaching and 90 non-coaching students fulfilling inclusion criteria that were specifically laid down for the study. A semi-structured specially designed pro forma, Scale of Academic Stress (SAS), and Coping Strategies Scale (CSS)-Hindi version were used. Appropriate statistical methods were then used to classify, tabulate, and analyze the collected data. In this study, it was found that of all coaching students, 44.45% were suffering from high levels of academic stress, 34.44% suffered from average and 21.11% reported suffering from low levels of academic stress. Likewise, among non-coaching students, 70% were suffering from low academic stress, 26.67% from average, and 3.33% from high levels of academic stress. It was also evident that the majority of both coaching and non-coaching students used a low level of active coping strategy (cognitive approach, behavioral approach, and cognitive behavioral approach) and a high level of avoidance coping strategy (cognitive avoidance and behavioral avoidance). There is a significantly high prevalence of stress among coaching students as compared to non-coaching students. Stress levels of greater severity were found to be more prevalent in female students, 12th-class students, those belonging to urban and middle-class backgrounds, and those whose stream was chosen by their parents. Both coaching and non-coaching students used the same type of coping strategies to cope with stress.

Mindfulness, coping, and disruptions as predictors of college student distress at the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic

Objective: This research examined how stressors experienced by college students within the first month of the COVID-19 pandemic were associated with their reports of psychological distress, mindfulness, and coping strategies. Participants: Students attending 11 universities in the U.S. (N = 464, M age = 20.72, SD = 3.90, 91% female, 61% White, and 77% non-Hispanic) in early childhood education, child development, and family science classes participated. Methods: Students completed an online survey about pandemic-related disruptions, depressive symptoms, mindfulness, coping, and demographics. Results: Students whose families had more financial difficulties reported more disruptions. Depression and avoidant coping were positively correlated with distress, while mindfulness was inversely correlated with distress and depression. Disruptions, family financial status, depressive symptoms, mindfulness, and avoidant coping significantly predicted distress, controlling for university site and student sex, age, race, and ethnicity in multiple regression analyses. Avoidant coping significantly moderated (amplified) the effect of disruptions on distress. Conclusions: College student well-being can be supported through Campus programming that includes mindfulness practices and alternatives to avoidant strategies for coping with stress.

Serially mediated effects of psychological inflexibility on quality of life of refugees in Uganda during coronavirus pandemic.

The unexpected outbreak and rapid spread of COVID-19 necessitated radical and stringent control measures, consequently changing how people live globally. To vulnerable populations like refugees, who were already living a disrupted life, the outbreak of COVID-19 and accompanying control measures complicated their living conditions and drastically affected their mental health and, consequently, their quality of life. The current study aimed to test whether psychological inflexibility was a factor in lowering the quality of life of refugees in Uganda during the COVID-19 pandemic. The study further examines whether the effects of psychological inflexibility on quality of life were serially mediated by avoidance coping, perceived threat, adherence to COVID-19 control measures, and general mental health states. The study was conducted among refugees living in Kampala city suburbs and Bidibidi refugee settlement in Uganda. Data was collected using a survey questionnaire during the partial reopening of the economy in mid-2020, after the first lockdown. The analysis assesses a serial mediation model of the effects of psychological inflexibility on the quality of life of refugees through avoidance coping, perceived threat, adherence to COVID-19 control measures, and mental health using PROCESS Macro. The study involved 353 participants. Our analyses revealed that psychological inflexibility was negatively associated with the perceived threat, adherence, and quality of life. Psychological inflexibility was positively associated with avoidance coping and poor mental health. The data supported all hypothesized mediation paths. These findings support literature suggesting that psychological inflexibility is a maladaptive attribute that thwarts positive coping and behavior adjustment in times of crisis. Consequently, psychological inflexibility can worsen mental health problems and quality of life, especially in populations such as refugees in low-income countries who live in precarious conditions. Incorporating interventions that reduce psychological inflexibility in crisis management efforts can help refugees maintain good psychological functioning and quality of life.

Depression in Uveal Melanoma Survivorship: Examining Psychological Predictors of Adjustment in the First Year Following Diagnosis.

A rare cancer, uveal melanoma (UM) affects 5 in 1 million adults annually. Research on predictors of mental health in UM survivors is scarce. In this prospective study, we tested models that postulate interactions between illness perceptions and coping processes in predicting depressive symptoms 1 year following UM diagnosis. Participants' approach- and avoidance-oriented coping processes and illness perceptions specific to control and chronicity were assessed. Participants (N = 107) completed assessments prior to diagnosis (T0), and 1 week (T1), 3 months (T2), and 12 months after UM diagnosis (T3). At T1, a significant avoidance coping × chronicity perception interaction (b = 1.84, p = .03) indicated that the link between higher avoidance coping and greater T3 depressive symptoms was stronger for participants with prolonged chronicity perceptions (b = 17.13, p < .001). Chronicity perceptions at T2 interacted significantly with approach-oriented coping at all time points; the link between higher approach coping and lower T3 depressive symptoms was stronger for participants with prolonged chronicity perceptions at T2. Interactions between control perceptions and coping did not significantly predict T3 depressive symptoms. Findings lend partial support to predictive models that consider the combined, interacting influence of chronicity perceptions and coping processes on depressive symptoms in survivors of eye cancer.

Self-reported general health/psychological status of Ukrainian female refugees in the Czech Republic

Abstract 533 490 refugees from Ukraine received ‘temporary protection’ from the Czech government. The data for the cross-sectional study (919 females) were obtained via an online survey which recorded self-reported physical health and psychological status, specific aspects of mental health, coping strategies and demographic characteristics. The average age of participants was about 38 years old and more than 70% had children. Most respondents have a university education (71%), came from cities and towns (88.7 %), and had employment in Ukraine (73.8 %). As regards, self-reported health, 43% of females reported their general health as good, 46.8% as fair, and 10.2% as bad and very bad. In addition, 27.9% reported that their health has worsened during the last month and 4.5% that their health had worsened or that they had sustained injury due to the war. Also, 52.7% self-reported their psychological status as fair, 26% as bad, and 7.7% as having very bad status. Preliminary results showed that refugees more often used problem-focused and emotion-focused strategies and less avoidant coping strategies. Ineffective coping strategies of self-blame and behavioural disengagement were associated with poorly reported physical health/psychological status. Effective coping strategies were positively associated with better-reported psychological status. The majority of Ukrainian female refugees (75.2%) have a moderate level of perceived stress, and 20.3% have a high level. Total stress score was moderately positively correlated with the avoidant coping strategy (r = .48), so the higher the perceived stress the higher the possibility for respondents to employ avoidant coping strategy. Moreover, there were strong positive correlations between perceived stress and self-reported emotional and psychological status (r = .61) and positive correlations with self-reported physical health (r = .29). The higher level of perceived stress related to the worst self-reported physical and mental health. Key messages • The research outcomes could be used in the social policy of the Czech government to help Ukrainian female refugees to better adapt to the country and avoid worsening physical and mental health status. • Social policies can reduce the negative physical and mental health outcomes associated with refugees’ resettlement.

Psychological Consequences of Chronic Ethnic Discrimination in Male Turkish Immigrants Living in Austria: A 30-Day Ambulatory Assessment Study.

Chronic ethnic discrimination may be associated with negative psychological consequences in ethnic minority groups. However, little is known about the impact of acute discriminatory events on people who experience chronic ethnic discrimination. We examined the impact of chronic and acute ethnic discrimination on the daily lives of Turkish immigrants in Austria, a population often overlooked in discrimination research. Ninety male Turkish immigrants living in Austria (60 experiencing chronic and 30 infrequent ethnic discrimination) reported discriminatory events in real time for 30 days. Additionally, subjective stress, reactivity to daily hassles, affect, and maladaptive coping were assessed daily. Participants experiencing chronic ethnic discrimination indicated higher daily values for stress, negative affect, reactivity to daily hassles, and anticipation and avoidance coping. Negative psychological states increased for all participants on days when discriminatory events occurred, but participants with chronic ethnic discrimination showed significantly stronger increases in maladaptive coping and reactivity to daily hassles, with the latter effect persisting until the next day. Our study is the first to demonstrate interaction effects of chronic and acute ethnic discrimination on psychological factors in daily life. The results may advance the understanding of the mechanisms that lead to health disparities in ethnic minority populations and may inform the development of targeted interventions.

Forever Changed: Predicting Grief and Growth After an Opioid-Related Loss

Over 564,000 people died from an opioid-related overdose from 1999 to 2020. Minimal research has examined factors contributing to grief outcomes for the thousands of people mourning these stigmatized deaths. Informed by the model of resilience and transactional model of stress, this study investigated the degree to which disenfranchised grief, social support, and coping predicted grief outcomes in a sample of 159 people grieving an opioid-related death. When predicting prolonged grief, avoidant emotional coping (β = 0.55) alone accounted for unique variance. Active emotional coping (β = 0.28) and problem-focused coping (β = 0.40) explained unique variance in posttraumatic growth. These findings may inform research and clinical practice and improve grief outcomes for this vast, and understudied population.

Understanding School Anxiety in Italian Adolescence through an Artificial Neural Network: Influence of Social Skills and Coping Strategies.

School anxiety depends on multiple factors that occur directly or indirectly in the teaching-learning process, such as going to the blackboard in class or reporting low grades at home. Other factors that influence school climate are social skills and coping strategies. That said, the aim of this research was to analyze the sources of school anxiety, coping strategies, and social skills in Italian secondary school students through an artificial neural network. For this purpose, a quantitative and ex post facto design was used in which the Inventory of School Anxiety (IAES), the Coping Scale for Children (EAN), and the Questionnaire for the Evaluation of Social Skills student version (EHS-A) were administered. The results showed that cognitive avoidance and behavioral avoidance coping strategies, together with the lack of social skills in students, are the variables that contributed the most to school anxiety scores in the artificial neural network. The conclusions revolve around the need to develop primary prevention programs.

Coping with Homogeneous Information Flow in Recommender Systems: Algorithmic Resistance and Avoidance

Despite being able to predict accurate user-item interactions, recommender systems also lead to homogeneous information flow, resulting in negative online experiences. However, users’ coping processes for this stressful event remain basically unclear. Drawing on coping theory, this study examines how users appraise two stressors (information narrowing and information redundancy) in homogenous information flow, especially in different user experiences, and thus adopt algorithmic resistance and avoidance coping strategies. Data (N = 407) were collected based on a survey. The empirical results indicate that information narrowing and information redundancy are significantly and negatively related to challenge appraisal, and exert significant and positive effects on threat appraisal. The moderating effect denotes that user experience strengthens the relationship between information narrowing and information redundancy to threat appraisal. Threat appraisal further triggers algorithmic resistance and avoidance of users. The paper provides several implications for theory and research by revealing the mechanism through which recommender systems users cope with homogeneous information flow. Our findings also provide new insights for designers of recommender systems platforms.

Anxiety, Depression, Coping, Alcohol Use and Consequences in Young Adult College Students

Background Young adult college students experience a high risk for heavy alcohol use and resulting consequences. Symptoms of anxiety and depression increase this risk. Coping style has been associated with alcohol use and consequences, with approach coping being inversely related to use and consequences, and avoidance coping being directing related to use and consequences. The purpose of this study is to examine whether coping style moderates or mediates the relationship between anxiety/depression and alcohol use and consequences. Methods 250 young adult college students ages 18 to 25 years (Women = 85, 34%) anonymously self-reported anxiety, depression, coping style, alcohol use and consequences. Results Path analysis showed that avoidance coping was positively related to alcohol use (β = 0.33, p < 0.05), social consequences (β = 0.39, p < 0.05), and personal consequences (β = 0.26, p < 0.05), while approach coping was inversely related to use (β = −0.20, p = 0.005). Coping did not moderate the relationship between anxiety and depression and alcohol use or consequences. Avoidance coping mediated the relationship between depression and alcohol use (β = 0.14, p < 0.05), social consequences (β = 0.16, p < 0.05), and personal consequences (β = 0.11, p < 0.05). Conclusion Findings build on alcohol use and consequences research, and support further research into implementing coping-based alcohol use interventions. Interventions aimed at reducing avoidance coping and increasing approach coping may be beneficial for young adult college students.

Parent behaviors as predictors of preadolescent appraisal and coping

Preadolescent appraisal and coping are significant predictors of youth psychopathology. However, little research examines how parenting behaviors relate to the development of these skills by forming a key context in which children learn to manage stressors. This study examined how observed maternal and paternal behaviors derived from a parent-child interaction task relate to levels of and growth in child appraisal (threat, positive) and coping (active, avoidant) across three years in preadolescence (n = 214, ages 8–12 years old at Time 1). Greater maternal warmth predicted lower threat appraisal and avoidant coping, and greater maternal negativity predicted greater increases in avoidance. Increased paternal warmth predicted lower initial levels of threat appraisal. Boys showed less growth in active coping than girls. These findings suggest parenting behaviors relate to preadolescents' utilization of maladaptive coping strategies such as avoidance and may be important intervention targets for supporting youth managing stressors.

Perceived Stress, Mental Well-Being and Coping on Parents of Disabled Children from Mainstream and Special Schools

Raising children with special needs increases the level of family stress and undoubtedly affects the mental well-being of its members. Parents' ability to adapt to this challenge, which causes stress and various unpleasant emotions, will have an effect both on them and on the children. We hypothesized that perceived stress is a significant predictor for parents’ mental well-being and that this relationship is moderated by different copying strategies used by them. Moreover, we hypothesized that the type of school in which children are enrolled predicts the level of stress reported by the parents. 202 parents of children with disabilities in special schools and mainstream schools, aged between 21 and 66 years old, completed a questionnaire to measure stress levels, mental well-being and the coping strategies used by them. Regression and moderation analyses were conducted. Parental stress was a negative predictor of mental well-being, and problem-focused coping and emotion-focused coping were moderators of the relationship between the two variables, with lower levels of stress and higher levels of mental well-being for the use of these strategies. Avoidant coping did not represent a moderator in this relationship, being correlated with higher levels of parental stress. Children’ parents in special education have experienced higher levels of stress than children’ parents in mainstream schools. Findings suggest that the way parents of disabled children manage to cope with the stressors influence their mental well-being, offering support in understanding this phenomenon and setting objectives of psycho-emotional intervention for parents.