Coping Strategies with the Psychological Stress among Parents of Children with Intellectual Disabilities and Slow Learners in Light of Selected Variables in the State of Kuwait
Ibrahim El-Zraigat *
Department of Counseling and Special Education, Faculty of Educational Sciences, The University of Jordan, Amman, Jordan.
Faiez AlDhafairi
Ministry of Education in Kuwait, Kuwait.
*Author to whom correspondence should be addressed.
Abstract
This study examined the strategies of coping strategies with the psychological stress among the parents children with intellectual disabilities and slow learners children in light of some variables in Kuwait. The sample consisted of (513) parents of children with intellectual disabilities and slow learners children, among them (326) parents of children with intellectual disabilities in the private schools and (187) parents of the slow learners children in the private classes in the public schools. The study was conducted during the academic year 2015/ 2016. The researchers developed and applied coping strategies with the psychological stress scale. Validity and reliability of the measure were achieved. The results of study showed significant statistical difference between the parents of children with intellectual disabilities and the parents of the slow learners children in favor of the parents of slow learners. In addition, the study did not show significant statistical differences that are attributed to the effect of the parents' educational level on all dimensions and for the instrument as a whole, except the dimensions of distancing, and escaping or avoidance. In addition, Scheffe test indicated significant statistical differences between those who hold the secondary school exam and bellow, and the ones who hold graduate studies and the differences were in favor of those who hold graduate studies. Also, result showed significant statistical differences between those who hold the secondary school exam and bellow, and the bachelor in favor of those who hold the secondary school exam in terms of escaping or avoidance dimension. The study did not show any significant statistical differences that were attributed to the effect of the parents' ages on all dimensions, except the dimension of escaping or avoidance. Moreover, the study show significant statistical differences that were attributed to the effect of the child's gender on all dimensions, except for the dimensions of seeking social support and escaping or avoidance, these differences were in favor of females.
Keywords: Coping strategies, psychological stress, intellectual disabilities, slow learners, special education, Kuwait