Evaluating Stress Levels of Parents of Children with Disabilities

Abstract

Research has shown that the interactions of parents with their children with disabilities can have a profound impact on the progress that a child makes in his or her therapeutic or educational programs. For this reason, we argue that an important component of the screening and assessment process is a measure of the stress level experienced by parents. We provide an overview of the different assessment instruments currently used to evaluate stress in parents of children with disabilities, and make recommendations for further research and/or professional use of each instrument.