Introduction: Stress experienced by parents of a disabled child can have a negative impact on family relationships. Purpose: Assessment of parents coping with critical situations. Materials and methods: We analyzed 83 families, including 30 families from Poland, 25 families from Belarus and 28 families from France and we used Coping Inventory for Stress Situations (CISS) and The General Self- Efficacy Scale (GSES). Results: After hearing the diagnosis most often parents felt shock (63.3% from Poland, 68% from Belarus and France 85.7%). Main parents' emotions induced by the disability was fatigue (76.7% from Poland, 44% from Belarus and 71.4% from France - p=0.028) and sadness (73.3% from Poland, 40% from Belarus and 28.6% from France - p=0.002). Most often in response to the annoying and stressful child’s behaviour parents tried to admonish (76.7% from Poland, 56% from Belarus and 75% from France) or shout at the child (66.7% from Poland, 24% from Belarus and 17.9% from France p <0.001). The least likely preferred style of coping with stress in all countries was the search for socializing. The highest rate of self-efficiency characterize parents from France, the lowest from Poland. Conclusions: The existence of factors which could significantly affect the level of burn-out syndrome in parents, such as the deterioration of the financial situation (mainly in Belarusian families), sadness, fatigue, insomnia (mainly in Polish families). Parents chose effective strategies of coping, and the predominant style was focused on the task. It has been shown that parents lack the ability to control negative emotions, which in particular affected Polish families (for example, domination of trials to admonish and explain, shouting at the child).
Introduction: Problems of families with autism are generally not visible or manifested, but without support, they become economically and educationally inefficient. Purpose: To assess the degree of empathic understanding of the child and the degree of emotional control by parents. Materials and methods: The study included 30 families from Poland, 25 from Belarus and 28 from France. We used Empathy Understanding Others questionnaire (KRE) and The Courtauld Emotional Control Scale (CECS). Results: The most common difficulty reported in the care of a child was gaining his/her independence (66.7% in Poland, 84% in Belarus, 78.6% in France). Parents from Poland more often (26.7%) than others (12% in Belarus, 3.6% in France) pointed out that the disability of a child caused that their friends turned their back to them. 40% of parents from Poland, 60% from Belarus and 57.1% from France claimed that the spouses accept the disability of the child. The disability induced in parents mainly fatigue (76.7% from Poland, 44% from Belarus, 71.4% from France). The level of empathy in Polish (64.2 ± 6.2) and French parents (64.8 ± 11.6) was almost identical, and the highest was among Belarusian parents (70.3 ± 8.3). Overall rate of CECS of the surveyed parents was at the average level (from Poland 47.4 ± 4.9; from Belarus 44.8 ± 6.1, from France 48.1 ± 6.0). Conclusions: Nurses evaluated their own preparation for educational activities usually very low. In the majority they would not want to take up the difficult role of educators of parents of autistic children. Due to a potential contact of a nurse with a child with autism and the child’s family, it is advisable to extend the knowledge of nurses in the care of a child with autism.
Purpose: To assess the health-related quality of life (HRQL) in parents of children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD). Materials and methods: The sample consisted of 83 families with children with ASD, including 30 families from Poland, 25 from Belarus, and 28 from France. Parental HRQL was surveyed with the World Health Organization Quality of Life–BREF (WHOQOL–BREF) and KINDLR questionnaires. Results: This study showed that Polish parents reported the lowest quality of life according to the WHOQOL–BREF. Parents from Belarus reported slightly worse HRQL than parents from France, though other aspects of quality of life (e.g, social sphere, somatic sphere) did not differ significantly between these parents. Parents from Poland also reported lower HQOL according to the KINDLR questionnaire, while parents from Belarus had a higher HQRL in the mental, physical, and self-esteem domains compared to parents from Poland and France. Conclusion: Parents from Poland with children with ASD reported lower HRQL both on the WHOQOL–BREF and KINDL R questionnaires compared to parents from Belarus and France.
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