Parental Stress among Parents of Children with and without Disabilities

Abstract

Parental stress is a factor experienced by parents of children both normal and those with a disability while parenting. Parental stress affects the psychological well-being of parents. This study compared the parental stress among parents of disabled and non-disabled children. A differential research design was applied in the study. The sample (n=200) was drawn by using convenient sampling technique and consists of (i) parents (n=100) having disabled children with sensory impairment - deaf, dumb, blindness and with physical disability and (ii) parents (n=100) having normal children. The sample was collected from special education and private sector schools of Bahawalpur. Parental Stress Scale was administered for measuring the stress level of parents. The findings revealed that parental stress is significantly higher among parents of children with disability as compared to parents of normal healthy children.