Marital relations and coping strategies in parents of children with cerebral palsy

Abstract

Parents of children with cerebral palsy are faced to a variety of challenges in order to answer to the demanding medical procedures, exceeding typical child development needs, and overcoming disappointments related to a child diagnose. Most of the families develop resources and capabilities to overcome and adapt to a new circumstances. The purpose of a study was to examine the quality of interpersonal relationships in families of children with cerebral palsy. The part of this wide study, shown in this paper, refers to marital relations and coping strategies in parents of children with cerebral palsy. Sample included 80 parents (married or single), divided in three groups of 20 parents, based on whether child had a mild, moderate or severe level of impairment, and fourth group of 20 parents, as a control group. Measuring instruments were “Marital adjustment test“, “Family environmental scale“ and “Coping health inventory for parents“. The result indicated that the relations in the marriage subsystem in families with cerebral palsy are different depending on a severity of cerebral palsy. The quality of marital relations does not depend on the intellectual status of the child. Results on Coping health inventory for parents showed that parents usually recourse to the coping pattern 2: maintaining social support, self-esteem, and psychological stability. Results shows significant correlation between “Family environment scale“ and “Coping health inventory for parents“. Findings have implications for present strategies of health care delivery and for health care professionals’ attempts to facilitate family adaptation to the stresses of child disability.