Stress in Parents of Visually Impaired Children and Parents of Children with Multiple Disabilities and Visual Impairments

Specifičnosti odgoja djece s oštećenja vida sa sobom nosi niz posebnih izvora stresa za roditelje, a prisustvo dodatnih teškoća dodatno otežava roditeljski posao. Istraživanja koja su se bavila procjenom roditeljskog stresa kod roditelja djece s oštećenjem vida (OV) te roditelja djece s oštećenjem vida i dodatnim utjecajnim teškoćama (OVDT) rijetka su i nekonzistentna. Isto tako, nije za zanemariti i utjecaj pandemije COVID-19 na roditeljstvo. Cilj ovog diplomskog rada bio je ustanoviti razlike u doživljaju stresa kod roditelja djece s OV i roditelja djece s OVDT. U istraživanju su sudjelovali roditelji čija djeca pohađaju Centar za odgoj i obrazovanje „Vinko Bek“ ili Dnevni centar za rehabilitaciju djece i mladeži „Mali dom – Zagreb“ (N=32). Za potrebe diplomskog rada korišteni su dijelovi anketnog upitnika iz Erasmus+ projekta „Izgradnja mostova: Promicanje socijalne uključenosti i dobrobiti obitelji djece s teškoćama u razvoju (PSI-WELL)“ koji je za potrebe projekta preveden metodom dvostrukog prijevoda. Podaci su obrađeni deskriptivnom analizom. Utvrđeno je da ne postoji statistički značajna razlika između skupine roditelja djece s izoliranim OV i roditelja djece s OVDT na ukupnoj skali roditeljskog stresa. Također, utjecaj pandemije na roditeljstvo obje skupine roditelja ocjenjuju prosječnom ocjenom 2,59 što je umjeren rezultat, a utvrđeno je da ne postoji statistički značajna razlika u utjecaju ove pandemije između skupine roditelja djece s izoliranim OV i roditelja djece s OVDT. Ovi rezultati ukazuju na potrebu provedbe istraživanja s većim brojem ispitanika te uključivanjem roditelja djece bez teškoća u razvoju kako bi se dobio širi uvid u kompleksnosti fenomena roditeljskog stres, izvora i mehanizma nošenja s istim, a sa svrhom izrade što boljih programa podrške za roditelje djece s oštećenjem vida.A number of special sources of stress for parents arises from raising children with Visual Impairments (VI), and the presence of additional difficulties complicates the work of parents furthermore. Research that has dealt with the assessment of parental stress in parents with children Multiple Disabilities and Vision Impairment (MDVI) is rare and inconsistent. Likewise, the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on parenting cannot be ignored. The aim of this thesis was to establish the differences in the experience of stress among parents of children with VI and parents of children with MDVI. Parents of children with VI (N=15) and parents of children with OVDT (N=17), whose children attend the Center for Education "Vinko Bek" or the Day Center for the Rehabilitation of Children and Youth "Mali dom - Zagreb" participated in the research. Parts of the survey questionnaire from the Erasmus+ project "Building bridges: Promoting social inclusion and well-being of families of children with developmental disabilities (PSI-WELL)" were used for the purposes of the thesis, which was translated for the purposes of the project using the double translation method. Data were processed through descriptive analysis. It was determined that there is no statistically significant difference between the group of parents of children with VI and parents of children with MDVI on the total scale of parental stress. The impact of the pandemic on parenting was evaluated by both groups of parents with an average score of 2.59, which is a moderate result. Moreover, it was determined that there is no statistically significant difference in the impact of this pandemic between the two groups of parents. These results indicate the need for conducting research with a larger number of respondents, as well as the inclusion of parents of children without developmental disabilities in order to gain a broader insight into the complexity of the phenomenon of parental stress, its sources and coping mechanisms, with the aim of creating the best possible support programs for parents of children with visual impairment