Parental adaptation to the cerebral-palsied child : the influence of psychosocial variables

Bibliography: leaves 159-174.This study examined the degree of adaptation (operationalised by means of multiple measures, namely satisfaction with family life, stress and adjustment to the child) being attained by parents of a child with cerebral palsy. Drawing on the model of stress and coping of Lazarus and Folkman (1984), the outcome variable adaptation was held to be a function of the stressor (i.e. the exceptional child) and various mediating factors, namely demographics, coping mechanisms, perceived social support and locus of control. A cross-sectional, correlational field survey was conducted in which seventy-nine parents, recruited via a school for children with cerebral palsy, completed a pencil and paper self-report questionnaire, generating both quantitative and qualitative data. Scales utilised in this study were the Family Adaptability and Cohesion Evaluation Scale III (FACES III; Olson, Portner & Lavee, 1985), the short form of the Questionnaire on Resources and Stress (QRS-F; Friedrich, Greenberg & Crnic, 1983), the Judson Scale (Judson & Burden, 1980), the Coping Orientations to Problems Experienced Scale (COPE; Carver, Scheier & Weintraub, 1989), the Family Support Scale (FSS; Dunst, Trivette & Jenkins, 1988) and the Pearlin Mastery Scale (Pearlin & Schooler, 1978). Qualitative data were solicited by means of four open-ended questions, the responses to which were content analysed on the basis of themes identified in the literatur