Assessment of Effectiveness of Selected Relaxation Strategies on Stress and Coping among the Mothers of Differently Abled Children.

Abstract

The mother plays a vital role in parenting, which has more challenges and consequently greater stress in bringing up their disabled children. The aim of the research is to assess the effectiveness of selected relaxation strategies on stress and coping among mothers of differently abled children, and association of posttest level of stress and coping with their selected demographic variables. The research was quantitative in nature, and adopted quasi-experimental [one group pretest-posttest] design which involved 60 mothers with purposive sampling technique conducted at Little Flower Convent at Nungambakkam, Chennai. A structured questionnaire was used to elicit the demographic variables,and three points Likert scale was used to assess the level of stress and coping. After four weeks intervention of selected relaxation strategies [deep breathing for10min, and progressive muscle relaxation for 20min] the analysis revealed that with respect to stress the ‘t’ test value 13.2 which was significant at P = 0.005 level and coping the ‘t’ test value 10.7 which was significant at P = 0.001 level. The findings proved that the selected relaxation strategies i.e deep breathing and progressive muscle relaxation are very effective method to reduce stress and increase coping of mothers of differently abled children.