Stress, coping and social support in mothers of children with hearing impairment: a path analysis

Abstract

Children hearing loss implies an important source of stress for parents, who not always cope with the problem in an accurate way. This situation/ abilities/ variables may be influenced by parents social support perception (Asberg, Vogely Bowers, 2008; Hintermair, 2004; 2006; Zaidman-Zait, Most, Tarrasch, Hahhad-Eid y Brand, 2016). The current study aims to set the relation between stress level, coping strategies and perceived social support of mothers with children hearing impairment. The sample was conformed by 68 mothers of children within the ages of one and twelve presenting a hearing loss up to 41 decibels. Path Analysis Model was used to establish relations between the studied variables (stress, coping strategies and social support) and sociodemografic data. Findings point out that mothers’ educational level and working status have an influence over three variables: stress level, perceived social support and maternal coping strategies.