Parental stress in families of children with special educational needs: a systematic review

Abstract

BackgroundThis systematic review aimed to identify the risk factors and protective factors for parental stress in families with children with special educational needs. Studies have indicated that the wellbeing of families is related to the physical, psychological, and social conditions of the children, as well as the family functioning, stress coping strategies, and social and professional support of their parents. The parents of children with special educational needs experience high levels of parental stress. Identifying the associated risk factors and protective factors may shed light on the provision of interventions to promote the mental wellbeing of these parents.MethodsBoolean operators were used to search multiple online databases, and the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses guidelines were applied in this systematic review. Data were extracted into categories of population, age, region, the child's diagnosis, the stress-measuring instrument, and the risk factors and protective factors.ResultsTwenty-six studies, including 5,169 parents and 3,726 children, were reviewed. The following four major risk factors and protective factors were found to be associated with parental stress: the sex of the parents, diagnosis-related coping issues, socioeconomic characteristics, and social isolation of the parents.ConclusionsThis systematic review identified four significant risk factors and protective factors related to social support from couples, family members, and social circles. Various agencies may provide financial and manpower assistance and professional support and services to improve the parents' knowledge and coping skills, as well as affectional support, early screening, and continuous assessment of the parents' progress. Social policies and interventions offering continuous and diagnosis-related support to the parents of children with special educational needs are highly recommended.

Factors affecting the health-related quality of life of children with cerebral palsy in Indonesia: a cross-sectional study

“…As the severity of motor function increased, the health burden also increased, necessitating intensive care from parents. parental stress [27,28]. Parents who receive adequate professional support will gain a better understanding of their child's progress and acquire the knowledge and skills needed to effectively manage their child's behavior [28].…”

“…parental stress [27,28]. Parents who receive adequate professional support will gain a better understanding of their child's progress and acquire the knowledge and skills needed to effectively manage their child's behavior [28]. Providing early explanations related to the condition of the disease and information on parents' expectations regarding the child's functional abilities can help reduce parental stress [27,28].…”

“…Each question has a Likert-scale response, from 1 (strong disagreement) to 5 (strong agreement). The scores on the PSI are interpreted as the total scores, which are obtained by adding the scores for parental distress (PD) (score for items 1-12), parent-child dysfunction interaction (PCDI) (scores for items 13-24), and difficult child (DC) (scores for items [25][26][27][28][29][30][31][32][33][34][35][36]. The total score was adjusted for the percentile raw scores for classification of participants based on their level of stress.…”

Research on the Teachers' Dilemma in Inclusive Education under the Background of Learning in Regular Classrooms

“…Interviews the teachers claimed that caregivers with children with special needs are less involved, to an insufficient extent, do not communicate enough with schools and do not attend school activities, which hugely hinders progress [2]. Studies show that caregivers with children with special needs experience higher psychological distress as they are more likely to deal with overall family changes, prolonged stress from handling children's daily life problems, and financial strain from children's fluctuating health conditions [12,13]. In some cases, caregivers of children with special needs have a disability or are in a lower SES, whereas some teachers see this as a challenge.…”