'Faculty of Education and Rehabilitation Sciences, University of Zagreb'
Abstract
BACKGROUND: Mothers of children with a range of developmental disabilities report higher levels of stress than mothers of typically developing children. Higher levels of stress can also be related to parenting sense of competence. Further, parental stress and a sense of competence are also significantly associated with parenting support and marital satisfaction. AIM: This study had three aims: to determine the difference in stress levels and sense of competence observed as self perceived parental efficacy and satisfaction with parenthood in mothers of children with and without disabilities; to determine the relationship between stress levels and sense of competence observed as self perceived parental efficacy and satisfaction with parenthood in all mothers; and to determine the difference in importance of factors associated with motherhood stress and a sense of competence. METHODS: Mothers of 71 children aged 1-13 years from the city of Varaždin, 38 without disabilities and 33 with disabilities, participated in this study. The mothers filled in four assessment tools: the Parental Stress Scale; the Parenting Sense of Competence Scale, which included the two subscales of self-perceived parental efficacy and satisfaction with parenthood; the Family Support Scale; and the Quality of Marriage Index. RESULTS: Statistical t tests showed significant differences between mothers of children with and without disabilities in stress, and self-perceived sence of maternal efficacy, which was part of the sense of competence variable. Further, all explored variables were significantly correlated, and finally, all three models of four-stage hierarchical multiple regression revealed that final models containing sociodemographic factors, child characteristics, a disability factor, social support and marital quality explained 50.9% of the variation in parental stress level, 36.4% of variation in self-perceived parental efficacy, and 35.1% of variation in satisfaction with parenthood. Changes in R² were significant in all models. When all predictor variables were included in stage four of the regression model, marital quality explained the most variance in all models. CONCLUSION: These results show the importance of marital quality in both parental stress and a sense of competence equally in mothers of children with and without disabilities.Uvidom u dosadašnja istraživanja može se zapaziti kako veći broj autora navodi da majke djece s teškoćama u razvoju najčešće pokazuju više razine roditeljskog stresa negoli majke djece bez teškoća. Više razine roditeljskog stresa također se povezuju s osjećajem roditeljske kompetentnosti. Nadalje, roditeljski stres i osjećaj kompetentnosti često se dovode u vezu sa socijalnom podrškom i bračnim zadovoljstvom. Ovo istraživanje imalo je četiri cilja: odrediti razliku u razinama roditeljskog stresa kod majki djece s teškoćama i bez teškoća u razvoju; odrediti razliku u roditeljskom osjećaju kompetentnosti promatranog kroz dvije subskale: samoprocjena roditeljske efikasnosti i zadovoljstvo roditeljskom ulogom kod majki djece sa i bez teškoća u razvoju; odrediti povezanost između roditeljskog stresa i roditeljskog osjećaja kompetentnosti (samoprocjena roditeljske efikasnosti i zadovoljstva roditeljskom ulogom) svih majki; i odrediti doprinos relevantnih prediktorskih varijabli u objašnjavanju roditeljskog stresa i roditeljskog osjećaja kompetentnosti. U istraživanju su sudjelovale majke 71 djeteta u dobi od 1 do 13 godina iz Varaždina, od toga 38 majki djece bez i 33 majke djece s teškoćama u razvoju. Sve majke ispunile su četiri skale procjene: 1) skalu roditeljskog stresa, 2) skalu samoprocjene kompetentnosti roditelja, koja uključuje dvije podskale – roditeljska samopercepcija efikasnosti u ulozi roditelja i zadovoljstvo ispunjavanjem roditeljske uloge, 3) skalu socijalne podrške te 4) indeks bračne kvalitete. Rezultati t-testova pokazali su značajnu razliku u razini doživljenog roditeljskog stresa između majki djece s teškoćama i djece bez teškoća, kao i samopercepciji osjećaja roditeljske efikasnosti. Sve ispitane varijable u okviru drugog cilja bile su statistički značajno povezane, dok sva tri modela hijerarhijske regresijske analize upućuju da sociodemografske varijable majke, varijable karakteristika obitelji, prisutnost teškoća u razvoju, socijalna podrška i kvaliteta braka objašnjavaju 50,9% varijance u razini roditeljskog stresa, 36,4% varijance u samopercepciji roditeljske efikasnosti, a 35,1% varijance u zadovoljstvu ispunjavanjem roditeljske uloge
