Behaviour Problems, Stress and Coping Strategies. A Comparison of Parents of Children with Cerebral Palsy and Parents of Children with a Psychiatric Disorder and other Physical Disorders.

Abstract

Background and Aim: The purpose of the present study was to describe and examine differences in children’s behaviour problems, experienced stress and coping strategies used by the parents of children with Cerebral Palsy (CP) and parents of children with a psychiatric disorder (PsD) like Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD), Attention Deficit Disorder (ADD), Autism, Pervasive Developmental Disorder Not Otherwise Specified (PDD-NOS) or Nonverbal Learning Disorder (NLD) and other physical disorders. Method: The sample consisted of parents of children with CP (n = 5) and parents of children with a PsD and other physical disorders (n = 9). Parents filled out the “Child Behavior Checklist 4-18” (CBCL 4-18) to measure components of the child’s behaviour problems. To assess the levels of stress experienced by parents the “Nijmeegse Ouderlijke Stress Index” (NOSI) was filled out by the parents. The “Utrechtse Coping Lijst” (UCL) was used for the assessment of coping strategies during problematic situations. Finally, a general questionnaire was used to assess diverse child, parent and family characteristics. The Mann-Whitney U test and Spearman’s rank correlation test were used as methods of analysis. Results: Results indicated that children with a PsD and other physical disorders have more behaviour problems than children with CP and that the parents of children with a PsD and other physical disorders experience more stress than parents of children with CP. The results confirmed the relation between the child’s behaviour problems and experienced stress by the parents. No differences exist in the coping strategies between the two groups of parents. Conclusion and Discussion: This can lead to different forms of parent support, attuned on parents of children with different disabilities. Further research, with larger samples, is needed about this research issue. Discussion remains about the bidirectional relation between the child’s behaviour problems and experienced stress by the parents.