Page 1 of 13
Journal for Studies in Management and Planning
Available at http://internationaljournalofresearch.org/index.php/JSMaP
e‐ISSN: 2395‐0463
Volume 01 Issue 07
August 2015
Available online: http://internationaljournalofresearch.org/ Page | 172
Stress among Parents and Caregivers of Differently
Abled Children
Sukhdeep Kaur1& U.V Kiran2
Student1 & Professor2 Department of Human Development and Family Studies, School for Home
Sciences, Babasaheb Bhimrao Ambedkar University, Lucknow-226025, Uttar Pradesh, India
ABSTRACT
Purpose: Disability is thus not just a health
problem. It is a complex phenomenon,
reflecting the interaction between features of
a person’s body and features of the society in
which he or she lives. Caregivers play a
central role in the lives of children, and their
own well-being is inextricably linked to that
of their children. Two major social trends
make the consideration of caregiver health
particularly relevant. Caregiver
syndrome or caregiver stress is a condition of
exhaustion, anger, rage, or guilt that results
from unrelieved caring for a chronically ill
dependent. The present study aims at stress
among the care givers of the differently abled
children. Methodology: In the present study
descriptive and corrdational research design
is used for obtaining a good grasp of the
phenomena of interest and for advancing
knowledge through good theory building. To
assess the level of stress the perceived stress
scale was used. Result :Stress among parents/
caregivers of disable children were
considered as The parents of disabled
children’s having the moderate stress, in
which female parent have higher stress rather
than the male. The preposition of stress is
equally high among the both parents of
differently abled children. The level of stress
is more high under the age group 25-30 years
adults, they are having more stress due to
their child disability, as well as the parents of
the children under the age group of 31-35
years. The early adults have a more stress due
to the disability of their child. There is low
stress among the age group of 41-45 years
and 45-50 years old parents. The level of
high stress can be measures under the parents
those having graduates. The level of stress is
high among the parents under the income
group of 10,000-30,000. A very stress is seen
under the range of the 80,000 – above.
Conclusion: The level of stress is high among
the parents and caregivers of the differently
abled children due to many factors, which
affects the life and also their life style. There
is a wide disparity in how caregivers adjust to
the specific demands of care. Of the
parameters studied, regarding overload and
stress in caregivers. This study was
highlighted factors predictive of stress in
parents and caregiver of differently abled
children. It is difficult to completely change
the stress behavior of the parents and
caregivers of the differently abled children.
Keywords: Disability, parents -caregivers,
stress.
Page 2 of 13
Journal for Studies in Management and Planning
Available at http://internationaljournalofresearch.org/index.php/JSMaP
e‐ISSN: 2395‐0463
Volume 01 Issue 07
August 2015
Available online: http://internationaljournalofresearch.org/ Page | 173
INTRODUCTION
Disability is thus not just a health problem. It
is a complex phenomenon, reflecting the
interaction between features of a person’s
body and features of the society in which he
or she lives. Overcoming the difficulties
faced by people with disabilities requires
interventions to remove environmental and
social barriers.
People with disabilities have the same health
needs as non-disabled people – for
immunization, cancer screening etc. They
also may experience a narrower margin of
health, both because of poverty and social
exclusion, and also because they may be
vulnerable to secondary conditions, such as
pressure sores or urinary tract infections.
Evidence suggests that people with
disabilities face barriers in accessing the
health and rehabilitation services they need in
many settings (World Health Organization.
Retrieved11 August 2012).
Caregivers play a central role in the lives of
children, and their own well-being is
inextricably linked to that of their children
(Schor, 2003). Two major social trends make
the consideration of caregiver health
particularly relevant. First, there has been a
decided shift towards community-based
rehabilitation (CBR) of children with
disabilities (ILO, UNESCO, UNICEF, WHO,
2007). In addition to maximizing
opportunities for social inclusion, CBR
recognizes caregivers as partners in the
provision of care. Second, the principles of
family-centered care have been embedded in
health policy and embraced by health and
social services agencies providing services to
children with disabilities and their families
(Dunst et al 2002). Here, too, caregivers are
instrumental partners who take an active role,
influencing the nature and direction of the
care their child receives (Rosenbaum, 1998).
These trends place greater emphasis on
caregiver voice and involvement, but also
represent an extraordinary parental
responsibility. Caregivers of children (4–16
years of age) with a chronic health condition
and disabilities as well as caregivers of
children with brain based health problems
had more physical, mental health and
adjustment problems than caregivers of
children without these conditions.
Conversely, others have found that these
caregivers do not differ in their rates or levels
of physical health or psychological distress.
Page 3 of 13
Journal for Studies in Management and Planning
Available at http://internationaljournalofresearch.org/index.php/JSMaP
e‐ISSN: 2395‐0463
Volume 01 Issue 07
August 2015
Available online: http://internationaljournalofresearch.org/ Page | 174
RATIONALE OF THE STUDY
Family support is the support of
families with a member with a disability,
which may include a child, an adult or even
the parent in the family. Family support
includes "unpaid" or "informal" support by
neighbors, families and friends, "paid
services" through specialist agencies
providing an array of services termed "family
support services", school or parent services
for special needs such as respite care,
specialized child care or peer companions.
Parents attach to children through
core-level dreams, fantasies, illusions, and
projections into the future. Disability dashes
these cherished dreams. The impairment, not
the child, irreversibly spoils a parent's
fundamental heart-felt yearning. Disability
shatters the dreams, fantasies, illusions, and
projections into the future that parents
generate as pan of their struggle to
accomplish basic life missions. Parents of
impaired children grieve for the loss of
dreams that are key to the meaning of their
existence, to their sense of being. Recovering
from such a loss depends on one's ability to
separate from the lost dream, and to generate
new. more attainable, dreams. As disability
bluntly shatters the dreams, parents face a
complicated, draining, challenging,
frightening, and consuming task. They must
raise the child they have, while letting go of
the child they dreamed of. They must go on
with their lives, cope with their child as he or
she is now, let go of the lost dreams, and
generate new dreams. To do all this, the
parent must experience the process of
grieving.
A caregiver or caretaker is an unpaid
or paid person who helps another individual
with impairment with his or her activities of
daily living. Any person with a health
impairment might use care-giving services to
address their difficulties. Care-giving is most
commonly used to address impairments
related to old age, disability, a disease, or
a mental disorder.
Typical duties of a caregiver might
include taking care of someone who has a
chronic illness or disease; managing
medications or talk to doctors and nurses on
someone's behalf; helping to bathe or dress
someone who is frail or disabled; or taking
care of household chores, meals, or bills for
someone who cannot do these things alone.
With an increasingly aging population in all
developed societies, the role of caregiver has
been increasingly recognized as an important
