title: Gender differences in coping skills of parents with hearing-impaired children.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To assess differences between the coping strategies of the mothers and fathers with hearing-impaired children.
  
  
  METHODS
  A cross-sectional study was conducted looking at parents of children with moderate to profound hearing impairment. The parents with more than one child with a hearing impairment, the parents of children with additional disabilities and syndromes, single parents, and parents with their own hearing impairments were excluded from the study. A Brief COPE Scale questionnaire translated into Malay was used to assess the coping strategies. The questionnaire includes 28 items and was rated using a four-point Likert scale. Independent t-testing was used to compare the coping strategies of mothers and fathers. Simple linear regression was used to determine the association between age and coping strategies.
  
  
  RESULTS
  There were 72 participants. The number of mothers and fathers was equal. Religion, active coping and acceptance were the highest three scores in the domains, while substance use and behavioural disengagement were least used in both groups. The domains of religion, seeking emotional support and seeking instrumental support scored significantly higher in mothers than in fathers (p < 0.05). There was a significant difference between the two groups in terms of problem-focused strategies (p = 0.016) but not in terms of emotional-focused strategies (p = 0.134). There were significant negative linear correlations between age and seeking emotional support, humour and instrumental support ( p < 0.05).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  There were gender differences in the coping strategies among parents with hearing-impaired children. These are important factors that should be considered when counselling and establishing support groups for the parents of these children.
authors.affiliation: Department of Otorhinolaryngology, School of Medical Sciences, Health Campus, Universiti Sains Malaysia, 16150 Kubang Kerian, Kelantan, Malaysia. khairi@kck.usm.my
authors.forename: M K
authors.initials: MK
authors.lastname: Md Daud
authors.affiliation: School of Health Sciences, Health Campus, Universiti Sains Malaysia, 16150 Kubang Kerian, Kelantan, Malaysia.
authors.forename: S S M
authors.initials: SS
authors.lastname: Noor
authors.affiliation: Department of Neurosciences, School of Medical Sciences, Health Campus, Universiti Sains Malaysia, 16150 Kubang Kerian, Kelantan, Malaysia.
authors.forename: M N C M
authors.initials: MN
authors.lastname: Yusoff
authors.affiliation: School of Dental Sciences, Health Campus, Universiti Sains Malaysia, 16150 Kubang Kerian, Kelantan, Malaysia.
authors.forename: N
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Abd Rahman
authors.affiliation: School of Health Sciences, Health Campus, Universiti Sains Malaysia, 16150 Kubang Kerian, Kelantan, Malaysia.
authors.forename: M N
authors.initials: MN
authors.lastname: Zakaria
mesh_terms: D000223:Adaptation, Psychological; D000328:Adult; D002648:Child; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D005260:Female; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D034381:Hearing Loss / Q000523:psychology*; D006801:Humans; D015994:Incidence; D008296:Malaysia / Q000453:epidemiology; D008297:Male; D010290:Parents / Q000523:psychology*; D012307:Risk Factors; D012737:Sex Factors; D013315:Stress, Psychological / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000209:etiology / Q000523:psychology*; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires