Management of anxiety and QOL in the parents of children with special needs through positive therapy

The anxiety of parenting special children takes a heavy toll on the physical and mental health of the parents. This invariably leaves the parents in a state of increased anxiety, stress, restlessness and impatience. Therefore, in this study, an attempt was made to help the selected parents of special children manage their stress through Positive Therapy. From Middle School, Coimbatore, Tamil Nadu, Cheran Region Christian Society for Disabled Children, Coimbatore, Tamil Nadu, AMRIT, Coimbatore, Tamil Nadu and Corporation School for the deaf, Coimbatore, Tamil Nadu, 45 parents of children with special needs were screened using Case Study Schedule (Rohini, 2009), M.A.I (Manifest Anxiety Inventory - Hemalatha Natesan and Nandini Menon, Revised 2005) and Quality of Life Inventory (Thomas L. Leonard, 1998). All the 45 parents, in the age range of 22-39 years, were selected using purposive sampling. Positive Therapy was given in six sessions over a period of two weeks. At the end of six sessions, the subjects were re-assessed. There was a significant reduction in the mean anxiety from ‘Very High’ (25.29) to ‘Moderate’ (14.38) after Positive Therapy. There was a significant increase in the mean quality of life from ‘Moderate’ (24.67) to ‘High’ (35.31) after Positive Therapy. The computed correlation revealed positive relationship (r = 0.522) between child’s age and parental age. The factor analysis revealed the individual strategies of Positive Therapy had significant effect in the management of anxiety and enhancement of quality of life in the sample. Discriminant analysis indicated child’s age as a predictor of anxiety.