Abstract:

The study aimed to identify psychological stress and methods of coping with parents of mentally handicapped children in the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan and its relationship to some variables. The study sample consisted of (300) parents, with (150) parents and (150). The researcher used the Psychological Stress Scale for Parents of the Disabled, and the Psychological Stress Coping Methods Scale, both of which were prepared by Al-Sartawi and the Person (1998). The study found the following results: The sources of psychological stress common among mothers and fathers of mentally disabled children were high. And that the most common methods of coping with psychological pressures among parents of mentally handicapped children are in the field of general cognitive practices, followed by the area of ​​avoidance practice (escaping), and the field of emotional practices came in the third place, and in the last place came the field of specialized cognitive practices. And there are statistically significant differences at the level of The significance (α≤0.05) between the average responses on the total psychological stress scale among parents of the mentally handicapped due to the guardian variable, and that the differences in favor of (mothers), and the presence of statistically significant differences for the two domains (feelings of despair, frustration and anxiety over the child’s future) due to gender. The differences in favor of the gender of the child female for the domain of feelings of despair and frustration and the domain of concern for the child's future, and the absence of statistically significant differences in the domains (the psychological stress scale for parents of mentally handicapped children) due to the child's age, the father's education level, and the mother's education level.