INFAD (May 2018)

Relationship between Parental Stress and the socioeconomic characteristics of parents of children with special needs.

  • Maria Augusta Romão Veiga - Branco,
  • Maria Isabel Barreiro Ribeiro,
  • Celeste da Cruz Meirinho Antão,
  • Zélia Caçador Anastácio

DOI
https://doi.org/10.17060/ijodaep.2018.n1.v3.1259
Journal volume & issue
Vol. 3, no. 1
pp. 219 – 228

Abstract

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Introduction: There is a relationship between parental stress, family well-being and bio-psychological development of the children. An increased risk of developing physical-psychological pathology is associated with parents of children with special needs (CSN). Objetives: To determine the level of stress in CSN parents and to identify socioeconomic characteristics that may be associated with high levels of stress. Methods: An observational, cross-sectional and analytical study was performed based on a nonrandom sample of 274 CSN parents in Portugal. Data were collected from April to October 2017. As a tool for data collection, a questionnaire was used that included questions of socioeconomic nature and the Parental Stress Scale (PSS) consisting of 18 items, evaluated on a Likert scale that varies from 1 (totally disagree) to 5 (totally agree). The stress score resulted from the sum of all items and, later, it was classified taking into account the following cutoff points: Low: 18-40; moderate: 41-66 and high: 67-90. Results: Parents that respond to the questionnaire were, mainly, female (65%), with a mean age of 40.5 years old (SD = 8.25), from Bragança or Porto districts (73.4%), with 12 years of schooling (56.2 %), married (61.3%), full-time occupation (71.9%), monthly income ≤ 1200 euros per month (46.7%). The level of parental stress ranged from low (10.6%), moderate (46.7%) to high (42%). There were, statistically, significant associations between the level of parental stress and the variables: district of residence, marital status and household income. The proportion of parents with high stress levels was higher in: Guarda, Viseu, Castelo Branco and Faro districts; couples in a stable relation or divorced; in households with monthly income ≤ to national minimum wage (557 euros per month). Conclusion: Parental stress should be the focus of implementation of actions promoting the healthy development of CSN.

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