FACTORS AFFECTING COPING STRATEGIES AMONG CAREGIVERS OF CHILDREN WITH SPECIAL NEEDS

Abstract

Background:  Children with special needs represent a broad group of children who require particular educational, social, and medical treatments due to physical, cognitive, or emotional issues. It is common for caregivers of children with special needs to feel more psychological stress.  Many of them turn to emotion-focused or avoidance coping mechanisms as a result of this distress. Aims: the aim of the study was to assess of coping strategies among caregivers of children with special needs. Methods: The current study utilized a descriptive (cross-sectional) design was conducted on) 111) study sample included all caregivers who attended seven institutes in Al Najaf province from July 12 2025 to January 7, 2026. A purposive non-probability sampling technique was used. Furthermore, an adopted two tools used: Brief-COPE Scale, a personal characteristics for caregivers questionnaire sheet was added. Results: The results of the study revealed that half of caregivers were under the age of thirty five, and more than two thirds of caregivers were females (mothers), the majority of caregivers of children with special needs who participated in this study have moderate level of coping strategies(71.2%) with mean of scores (2.79). Conclusion: The findings of this study conclude that no statistically significant relationship between caregivers' coping strategies and their socio-demographic characteristics at (P<0.05), thus the researcher accept the null hypothesis. Recommendations: The study recommends providing families with educational programs to increase the caregivers' awareness about causes, signs and symptoms and how to use coping strategies. Further studies are needed, with large number of participants, in order to better understand the broader coping experience of childhood disability impact with families.