reinforcement, punishment, extinction)
delivered in both groups and individual
formats. The aim was to improve child
behavioral management techniques, which
ultimately led to decreased parental stress.
Other interventions including case
management services and respite care also
show some benefit (Chan & Sigafoos, 2001).
Another area of research relevant to
improving parent well-being involves an
understanding of problem-focused coping.
Problem-focused coping includes the use of
cognitive and behavioral problem-solving in
order to manage the source of stress. That is,
with problem-focused coping the person takes
some action to reduce their stress. For
example, the person can develop a problem
list and then prioritize the problem list starting
with the most pressing issue. Conversely,
emotional focused coping seeks to change a
person’s negative emotional state by focusing
on moderating the negative emotion. These
could include such techniques as using
relaxation techniques, rethinking the problem
in a more positive light, and denial. Essex,
Seltzer, and Krauss (1999) found that mothers
who coped with their child’s disability using
problem-focused coping experienced less
burden and depression than those who
employed emotion-focused coping, which
simply seeks to manage the emotions
surrounding the source of stress. However
Essex et al. (1999) found that fathers did not
get the same benefits from problem-focused
coping and only experienced decreases in
burden when they refrained from emotionfocused
coping. Similarly, Ylven et al. (2006)
point out that emotion-focused coping is only
beneficial in situations that are beyond the
caregiver’s control. These findings suggest
that clinicians may be able to decrease
caregiver stress by helping the caregiver to
focus on aspects of the disability that are
under his/her control (such as asking for
assistance and advice when needed or
advocating for the child’s needs)