Stress And Coping In Mothers Of Children

Published Date: 02 Nov 2017

Abstract

The statement that was put forward in this study is " Families with a child who has special needs experience life differently than other families" Findings Indicate significantly greater stress in the families with handicapped children, findings also suggest that families with handicapped children who have more support have less stress. Personal coping and social supports are presented as resources for parents of handicapped children. These closely linked concepts are viewed as increasingly of interest to practitioners and investigators who recognize that such parents encounter extraordinary stress. An overview of the difficulties faced by parents of handicapped children is followed by a review of several studies on coping among such parents.

As a challenge to the family, having a child with a disability places tremendous stress on the families. Despite these problems parents find variety of ways to cope with these stressful moments. Novel ways have been created to help parents and family members to cope with disabilities. The purpose of this paper is to provide information on this subject by presenting the results of quantitative data on Stress and Coping in Mothers of Children who are Moderately to Severely Disabled

Literature Review

What is Stress?

Parenting a child with a disability can produce great stress and a sense of imbalance in the family system (Burrell, Thompson, & Sexton, 1994). Mothers, especially with children diagnosed with autism appear to be the most adversely affected by the stress related factors that result from rearing a child with a disability. Despite these problems, families do cope with autism and often cope successfully (Bristol 1984;

Marcus et al. 1997).Stress is your body's way of countering any kind of demand. Stress can be garnered from both good and bad experiences. Stress causes the body to react by discharging elements into the blood stream. These chemicals give people more power and strength, which can be a positive if their stress is caused by physical danger. However this can cause terrible effects if their stress is in response to something emotional and there is no vent for this additional energy and strength. Stress is a reaction that's produced when we react to particular actions. It's the body's way of mounting to a challenge and preparing to meet a hard-hitting situation with focus, strength, stamina, and heightened alertness. Stress in short is defined as the body’s response to anything that disrupts normal life or routine.

Everyone experiences stress a little differently. Some people become irritated and act out their stress or take it out on others. Some people internalize it and develop eating disorders or substance abuse problems. Stress may lead to depression and other severe illness. The body doesn’t differentiate physical and psychological threats. When you’re stressed over a busy schedule or family problems the body will react just as strongly as if you were facing a life-or-death situation. Long-term exposure to stress can lead to serious health problems. Chronic stress disrupts nearly every system in your body. It can raise blood pressure, suppress the immune system, increase the risk of heart attack and stroke, contribute to infertility, and speed up the aging process. Long-term stress can even rewire the brain, leaving you more vulnerable to anxiety and depression.

Family Stress

Family stress is defined as a factual or imagined inequality between the demands of the family and the family’s ability to meet those demands. The demands in the family are referred to as stressors. This is a change that happens in the family. Stress as we know can either be positive or negative and can cause a change in the family’s coping pattern. Stressors could be an adversity such as medical expenses as a result of a chronically ill child. How the family deals with these problems determined the stress level of that family. A family’s outlook can vary from seeing life changes as challenges to be met to viewing a stressor as uncontrollable and the beginning of ruin for the family (2009 Clemson University Professors, Deborah J. Thomason, Ed.D., CFLE and Pamela A. Havice Ph.D. Original lessons were adapted from the "Stress on the Farm Home Study Course").

It is imperative that the family is closely knitted to deal with any challenges that they may face and are able to deal with these as one unit. Abraham Lincoln said, "A house divided against themselves cannot stand." This statement suggest that the family has to have cohesion and strength to face whatever challenge they may face together and not become overwhelmed with these stressors as a result tearing apart the family unit. A strong family unit will implement contrivances to resolve stressors as a result limiting stress for the entire family. Building a strong family entity that successfully manages stressors not only makes your home a place for each member to relax, recharge, and rejuvenate but also builds the essential skills for the family to come together in a crisis and effectively manage family stress.

Coping and social support for Families with children with disabilities

Coping means trying to reduce the consequences of stress, which are often unpleasant. Coping is a strategy used to avoid the strains of life. In coping with stress an important factor is having people around who can give love and support in difficult times, Love and support is of great value. It is important that parents have a means to cope with such stress, and one factor that has been shown to alleviate parental stress is social support (Bristol, 1984; Dyson, 1997; Sharpley, Bitsika, &Efremidis, 1997). Dunst, Trivette, and Cross (1986) defined social support as a multidimensional construct that includes physical and instrumental assistance, attitude transmission, resource and information sharing, and emotional and psychological support. Social support is something very priceless, however not all persons receives the right support or the right aid. When a family knows they have the social support from family members and close friends it will help to reduce the stress level of the family. Talking about problems give the parents or other family members’ time to vent and also creates new insights that can contribute to the solution.

Social support may also refer to formal services one receives from professional-based organizations, and/or services from more loosely structured organizations (e.g., social clubs, churches) that the family deems important to their lifestyle. A social support network is made up of friends, family and peers. Social support provides the reassurance of knowing that your friends are there for you if you need them. Various studies have confirmed that having a network of supportive relationships contributes to psychological well-being. Morgan (1997) demonstrated that a lack of social support can lead parents to withdraw from the larger community be-cause of the negative characteristics they associate with their child’s disability which in turn exacerbates their stress level.

What is a Moderate to Severe Disability?

A Moderate to Severe disability is defined individuals with mental retardation who require extensive o r pervasive support band whom also possess one or more significant motor or sensory impairments and or special health care needs which usually excludes deaf blindness. A child who has a disability does not get attached to their parents easily. They don’t return emotion and have difficulty cuddling. Parents at times find this behaviour hard to cope with as they expect their children to return the same emotions which they display toward them.

Methodology

The interviewer conducted a survey with three parents. All interviewees were females. They were presented with two instruments one being the Parental Stress Scale and the other being F- SCOPES. The Parental Stress Scale is a self report scale that contains eighteen items representing pleasure or positive themes of parenthood which includes emotional benefits self enrichment and personal development it also includes negative components such as demands on resources opportunities cost and restrictions. This scale rates items from one to five, with one being strongly disagree and five strongly agreeing to. F-COPES is a family crisis scale that has thirty items describing a variety of coping behaviours that individuals may use in times of personal stress or crisis.

The data was collected through one on one interview with the parents of the children with a disability and as a result of one parent being too busy to accommodate she was asked to complete the form and return it. Two of the parents interviewed had children with Autism. The other parent had a child with seizure disorder.

In the parent stress scale two parents strongly agreed that they were satisfied with their role as a parent the other parent agreed. The same two parents’ strongly agreed that there was little or nothing they wouldn’t do for their children and the next parent agreed. One parent disagreed that caring for her child requires more energy and time that she has to give. In contrast, two parents strongly agreed with the statement. One parent agrees that sometimes she worry whether or not she is doing enough for her child, another strongly agreed and the next parent is undecided. Two parents strongly agreed that they felt close to their children while the other only agreed with the statement. All parents reported that they enjoyed spending time with their children as they share many memorable moments together and also that they are an important source of affection for them. Parents believed that having their child has given them a more certain and optimistic view of the future. Two parents strongly disagreed that their children were the major source of stress in their lives while the other only disagreed. Having children leave little time and flexibility in my life while two parents agreed with this statement the other is undecided. two of the parents who seemed better off confirmed that they disagreed that their children has been a financial burden, the other who worked a weekly salary and was not willing to share the amount attested that she strongly disagrees with the statement. The two parents who are exposed to children with the same disorder stated that it was difficult to balance different responsibilities because of their children; in contrast the other parent strongly disagreed with the statement. A parent strongly agreed that the behaviour of her child was often embarrassing and stressful to her as he never liked wearing clothes and would often strip in public. Another parent strongly disagrees that their child’s behaviour is embarrassing while the other disagrees. While one parent strongly agrees that if she had to do it over again she might have not had any children, the youngest parent strongly disagreed and the other disagreed. The youngest parent reported that she strongly agrees as she is overwhelmed with her responsibility as a parent as she doesn’t have the support of the child’s father as he is imprisoned. Another parent who has a supportive family exclaimed that she strongly disagrees to being overwhelmed. The final parent also disagreed to the statement. The parents of the children who shared the similar disabilities again attested that they disagreed that having children gave them fewer choices and little control over their life. The other parent strongly disagreed. Two parents indicated they are satisfied with their role as a parent while the other parent strongly agrees that she is. Two parents strongly agreed that they found their children enjoyable and the other agreed. In the end the parents whose children has autism seemed to have the higher percentile of stress acquiring 42% and 36%, the youngest parent seemed to have the least amount of stress totaling 28%.

The family Crisis Personal Evaluation Scale was administered so as to identify the problem- solving attitudes and behaviours that families with children with disabilities utilize. It was evident from the data collected that each parent faced their problems differently; one parent was reluctant to seek encouragement from friends or relatives and refused to seek the help from community based organizations. The researcher believed this was as a result of the community she lived in and fair of being scrutinized by her peers or other community members. The parents who seemed to be better of believed somewhat that they have the power to solve major problems regarding their child In contrast the other parent strongly disagreed and went on to state that she is in no financial position to cater effectively to the needs of her child. all parents saw the importance of seeking help from their family doctor as they looked up to them as someone they trust. All parents believed that it was important to face problems "heads-on" and trying to find possible solutions as soon as possible. All parents share different views on accepting stress as a fact of life. Attending religious services seemed to be an important part of two parent’s lives. They proclaimed that sometimes these ceremonies were a means of encouragement for them. Contradicting this statement however is that participating in religious or spiritual activities which only one parent strongly agreed to, while the others strongly disagreed and neither agreed or disagreed. Excising played a very important role for one parent she protest that it gave her a chance to take her mind of the problems and rejuvenate her mind and body. Another source of motivation for these families was family get- together and dinners. This relieved parent’s frustration as they would get to share their "burdens" with other family members and also allows time for the child to socialize with other family members. While the other two parents moderately disagreed as they saw no major importance that it played. All parents either strongly or moderately agreed that they can handle their own problems. All parents also moderately disagreed that sharing their problems with neighbors’ was an effective way of handling their family problems. Having faith in God seemed to be of great importance for all parents. When parents were asked what has been most helpful in coping with their child’s disability one parent shared that maintaining a positive attitude does it for her. Other parent stated that the willingness of her family members enables her to cope with the disability; in addition spiritual support has also proven to be a good source of help. One parent with the child who has autism received 116/ 150 which is interpreted to be less stressful to her, the Parent with the child who suffers from seizure disorder received 79/ 150, the other parent with the child with autism had a total of 105/150.

Families with a child who has special health care needs experience life differently than other families. The researcher believes that this is to some extent true however as parents are finding more creative ways to cope with stressful events and not let it put an "end’ to their personal lives.

Parents

Score

F-COPES

Score

Parental Stress Scale

Parent #1

116/ 150

36/90

Parent #2

105/150

42/90

Parent #3

79/159

29/90

Discussion

The purpose of the paper is to find out the level of stress that parents undergo when they have children who has special health care needs based on the discussion it is evident that parents who have children with disabilities will undertake much more strenuous stresses than parents with children without disabilities. The goal of coping strategies is to strengthen or maintain family resources (Judge, 1998), reduce the source of stress or negative emotions (McCubbin, & Patterson 1983), and achieve a balance. Strategies directly aimed at coping with the source of stress, such as problem solving and seeking information are more adaptive strategies than those efforts to deny or minimize the situation (McCubbin & Patterson 1983; Judge, 1998). Parents attested that there is little to nothing they wouldn’t do for their children. Social support was also an important part of coping with their children with disabilities as families and friends provide a backbone for them to lean on. Some parents came to the acceptance that stress was a natural part of their everyday lives while another strongly disagreed.

In the parental stress scale and Family Crisis Oriented Personal Evaluation Scale it was noticed that the parent who received weekly allowances seemed to be the less stressed parent. She is a young mother with two children; she doesn’t seem to rely on family or friends to cope with her stress however she strongly agrees that if she were to decide whether or not to have children again she wouldn’t do it over.