An Instructional Guide for Reducing the Stress of Hearing Parents of Hearing-Impaired Children

The impact of a self-instructional program to reduce stress levels of parents of hearing-impaired children is examined. Fifty parents with hearing-impaired children were randomly assigned to one of two groups: Participating Parents, who received a Self-Instructional Parent Program (SIPP); and Non-participating Parents, who received no such program. Findings indicate that the participating parents did not experience significant decreases in their stress levels or in the perceived incidence of misbehavior in their children in comparison with non-participating parents. Participating parents, however, reported a decrease in their children's misbehavior; nonparticipating parents noted an increase.Additionally, the findings also associated increasing stress on the part of parents with parental perceptions of burgeoning misbehavior on the part of the child.