A Study on Parenting Stress in Mothers of Preschool Children with Disabilities: with Priority Given to Preschoolers with Intellectual Disabilities and Autistic Disorders Choi Minsuk* Professor, Division of Education, Department of Early Childhood Special Education, Baekseok University, #76Noonam-ro, Dongnam-gu, Cheonan-si, Chungcheongnam-do, 31065, Republic of Korea *Corresponding author: Minsuk Choi, Email: Choi2018@bu.ac.kr
Online published on 4 June, 2019. Abstract Background/Objectives The purpose of this study was to examine the parenting stress of 72 selected mothers of preschool children with intellectual disabilities and autistic disorders. Methods/Statistical Analysis As for research method, Korean Parenting Stress Index (K-PSI) was put to use. This instrument consists of three subareas: parental distress, parent-child dysfunctional interaction and difficult child. A five-point Likert scale was used in each item, and the total number of the items was 36. Findings The findings of the study were as follows: First, there was a lot of parenting stress among the mothers of preschool children with disabilities in all the three subitems. The mothers whose children were five years old and whose children's type of disabilities was autistic disorders were more stressed than the mothers whose children were at the age of five and whose children's type of disabilities was intellectual disabilities, but no significant differences existed according to the gender of their children. Second, parental distress, dysfunctional interaction and difficult temperament were positively correlated with parenting stress. Improvements/Applications To improve the quality of life and mental health of mothers of preschool children with disabilities, differentiated family support should be provided in consideration of children's type of disabilities and age. Top Keywords Parenting stress, mothers of preschoolers with disabilities, parental distress, parent-child interaction, difficult temperament. Top |