부모가 지각한 시각장애 자녀의 삶의 질과 양육스트레스

Abstract

Quality of life(QOL) is indispensible to people in modern society as an important indicator. The term quality of life is used to evaluate the general well-being of individuals and societies. Quality of Life has long been an explicit or implicit policy goal. Stress leaves parents who have children with disabilities feeling emotionally and physically drained. This study was designed to investigate parenting stress and quality of life of their children with visual impairments. A total of the 81 subjects were taken for research in special schools for the blind sited in Seoul, South Korea. K-PSI(Korean Parent Stress Index) and the questionnaire on quality of life of children with disabilities have used to assess parents’ stress level and quality of life of their children with visual impairments. Results of this study can be summarized as follows: First, significant differences of quality of life of children with visual impairments were not found by the presence of additional disabilities and educational experience in a regular school. Second, significant differences of parenting stress scores were found by the presence of additional disabilities and siblings of children with visual impairments. Finally, there were no positive or negative relationships between parents’ stress level and quality of life of their children with visual impairments. The findings of this study can be used to design special programs and provide services for improving quality of life of children with visual impairments and relieving parents’ stress. Also, educators can acquire useful information in this study for understanding parents’ stress and quality of life of children with visual impairments which parents perceive.