Evaluation of Stress and Support to Parents of Children with Developmental Disabilities–Our Experience

Abstract

Introduction

Stress is an integral part of parenting. The stress of parenting is especially increased at parents of children with developmental disabilities, which can have negative effects on the health of the parents, the relationship with the child and total parental behavior. The objective of this work is to assess the level of stress of parenting among parents of children with developmental disabilities. Parents were involved in workshops support within a regional project. The workshops were conducted twice a month, in the duration of two hours, during the one-year period. The workshops were led by experts in various fields, and work with parents was psycho-educational and supportive. The assessment was made using the questionnaire Parenting Stress Index-Short Form, within the two time frames, at the beginning of the project and after 12 months. The results showed that nearly two-thirds of parents of children with disabilities were under clinically significant stress at the beginning of the service. By retesting after twelve months, it was found that parental stress decreased, and the decrease is particularly evident in the parental competence experience. Although stress is reduced to some extent by the way the parent is experiencing emotional exchange with the child, its level still remains high.

Conclusion

Our experience shows that supportive workshops, which we participated in significantly, but insufficiently contributed to the stress reduction among parents. This paper discusses other possible interventions, which would specifically be aimed at developing strategies for reductions of clinically high level of parental stress.

Disclosure of interest

The authors have not supplied their declaration of competing interest.