Sense of Competence as Mediator on Parenting Stress

Abstract

Mothers who have children with special needs are prone to parenting stress due to the limitations of the children. Objectives: This study aimed to test the contributions of hardiness, social support and child’s maladaptive behaviors as mediated by parenting sense of competence to parenting stress in mothers of children with special-need. Methods: The participants of this study were 256 mothers. Five variables used were hardiness, social support, child’s maladaptive behavior, parenting sense of competence, and parenting stress, which shaped the structural model of the study. The data of this study were analyzed in two stages, using a structural equation modeling to assess a full model and post-hoc analysis to assess the differences of parenting stress based on types of the children’s disabilities. Results: The results: 1) parenting stress was directly influenced by hardiness, social support, child’s maladaptive behavior, and parenting sense of competence; 2) The relationship between hardiness and parenting stress was mediated by parenting sense of competence; 3) the mothers having children with autism spectrum disorder went through parenting stress higher than those raising children with other types of special need. Conclusion: The importance of parenting sense of competence as the mediator variable is discussed The determinant of parenting stress is directly affected by a child’s maladaptive behavior that has a positive correlation with parenting stress. The hardiness and parenting sense of competence as mother’s internal strength has a negative correlation with parenting stress, and so do the social support as external strength. © 2018 Daulay et al.