Reducing the Stress of Caregivers of Disabled Children with Stress Inoculation Training

Description

Page: 449-453

Mandeep Kaur and Aarti Khanna (Department of Psychology, Punjabi University, Patiala, Punjab)

To study the efficacy of Stress Inoculation Training in reducing the stress of caregivers of disabled children. The aim of the present study was to de-escalate the burden of caregivers of disabled children. Total sample for the study consisted of 24 caregivers both set of parents (N=12) out of which 12 were caregivers of intellectually disabled children (n=12) and 12 were caregivers of children with autism (n=12). The age range of caregivers was 25-45 years. The participants were approached from Ashadeep Clinic and Navjivini School Patiala. After taking the informed consent of selected participants they were administered Zarit Burden Interview (Zarit, 1980); Beck Anxiety Inventory (Beck, 1993); and Perceived Stress Scale (Cohen & Williamson, 1988). Out of 24 participants 12(experimental group) were given stress inoculation training (Michenbaum, 1976) for 2 months. The statistical analysis of one-way ANOVA and omega square technique showed that their scores decreased significantly on caregiver burden, anxiety and perceived stress as compared to the control group which didn’t receive any intervention. The results supported the framed hypotheses. The implications of the current research are quite high & impactful. It seeks to heighten their self-confidence in the application of the coping skills.