Published Paper Details:

The family is well known as the social institution that mainly participates in child development and nurturing. Parenting is a high task that is made even harder once one has to raise a child with a disability. The parenting styles are directly related to the coping mechanisms used by the parents. Dominant parenting was observed to be positively related with efficient coping styles and socio-economic strategies; on the other hand, authoritarian parenting was related with high degrees of avoidant coping and socio-emotional coping. The main aim of the given research was to find out the coping strategies that were used by parents of children with disabilities relative to that of parents of children without disabilities. The sample consisted of 100 parents (50 couples) of children with disabilities and 100 parents (50 couples) of children without disabilities, all residing in the Palamau district and meeting the inclusion and exclusion criteria. A purposive sampling method was used for data collection. Tools used for the study were Socio demographic and clinical data sheet, General Health Questionnaire (GHQ-5), and Brief Coping Orientation to problems Experienced Inventory (Brief Cope) (Carver,1997). Results showed that there are major differences between the parent of children with disabilities and the parent of children without disabilities in all three coping dimensions. Additionally, finding showed that, among the different coping styles assessed, instrumental support and self-blame only showed significant differences between the two groups, whereas the other coping style did not differ significantly.