Virtual Training on Stress Management for the Mothers of Children with Disabilities in the United Arab Emirates

Rawhi Abdat, Maxwell Peprah Opoku, Mohammed Safi, Siham Al Harballeh and Rhoda Myra Garces-Bacsal ()
Additional contact information
Rawhi Abdat: Rehabilitation of Persons with Disabilities Department, Ministry of Community Development Dubai, Dubai P.O. Box 17781, United Arab Emirates
Maxwell Peprah Opoku: Department of Special Education, College of Education, United Arab Emirates University, Al Ain P.O. Box 15551, United Arab Emirates
Mohammed Safi: Department of Speech Language Pathology, United Arab Emirates University, Al Ain P.O. Box 15551, United Arab Emirates
Siham Al Harballeh: Department of Special Education, College of Education, United Arab Emirates University, Al Ain P.O. Box 15551, United Arab Emirates
Rhoda Myra Garces-Bacsal: Department of Special Education, College of Education, United Arab Emirates University, Al Ain P.O. Box 15551, United Arab Emirates

IJERPH, 2023, vol. 20, issue 2, 1-12

Abstract: Parenting children with disabilities has consistently been reported to be associated with stress, and even more so among mothers who are primary caregivers. In non-Western contexts such as the United Arab Emirates (UAE), there is a dearth of research on maternal mental health in relation to raising children with disabilities and related mitigation strategies. During the COVID-19 pandemic (2020–2021), the Federal Government of the UAE used the Save the Child’s Stress Checklist to assess the stress levels of 635 mothers who were raising children with disabilities in the northern part of the country. In the pre-test, an estimated 6% (36/635) of the mothers were found to be experiencing high levels of stress. Consequently, virtual stress management training was conducted, and 12 of the 36 mothers completed the full training. Wilcoxon’s ranked test showed a reduction in their total, physical, emotional and cognitive stress at the end of the training. This study demonstrates the pressing need for ongoing training programmes to improve the mental health of mothers of children with disabilities in the UAE and similar contexts.

Keywords: stress management; parents; children with disability; intervention; United Arab Emirates (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I I1 I3 Q Q5 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2023
References: View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (1)

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