Parent Couples' Coping Resources and Involvement in their Children's Intervention Program

Area of Science:

• Psychology
• Family Studies
• Special Education

Background:

• Parental involvement is crucial for intervention success in deaf and hard-of-hearing (DHH) children.
• Understanding the dyadic dynamics of parental coping and involvement is essential for effective support.

Purpose of the Study:

• To examine the relationships between parents' coping resources and their involvement in DHH child intervention.
• To investigate the moderating roles of parent gender and family religiosity on these associations.

Main Methods:

• Utilized multilevel modeling to analyze actor-partner interdependence in 70 Jewish couples of DHH children.
• Assessed parental involvement, child acceptance, parental self-efficacy, and perceived social support via questionnaires.

Main Results:

• Child acceptance, parental self-efficacy, and social support were positively linked to parental involvement (actor effects).
• Parent gender moderated the effect of child acceptance on involvement.
• Mothers' involvement was negatively associated with fathers' child acceptance and social support (partner effects).

Conclusions:

• Parental coping resources significantly predict involvement in DHH intervention programs.
• Intervention planning should consider individual parental needs and dyadic influences.
• Gender plays a role in how coping resources translate to involvement, with specific partner effects observed for mothers.