Abstract

Objective: To develop a valid and reliable indigenous scale for the assessment of psychosocial distress among the parents due to having an intellectually disabled child in the family.
Methodology: Data were collected at the Department of Psychology, National Institute of Rehabilitation Medicine (NIRM) and Special Education Center, Rawalpindi. The study was divided into two phases. In phase I, a culturally relevant item pool was generated through extensive literature review and conducting qualitative interviews with parents of intellectually disabled children. In phase II, 41 items measuring psychosocial distress and a Depression Anxiety Stress Scale (DASS-21) were administered on 100 parents. We tested the factorial structure, internal consistency and validity of the scale.
Results: Five factors were extracted measuring different dimensions of psychosocial distress including emotional distress, social and personal constrains, marital conflicts, lack of family support, and despair. These factors explained almost 65% of the total variance and comprised of 26 items in total. The scale has acceptable Cronbach’s alpha (.93). Convergent validity of psychosocial distress scale with DASS-21 showed a positive association between the two.
Conclusion: This indigenously developed psychosocial distress scale can be used to assess the psychosocial distress among parents of children with intellectual disabilities. The study may provide basis to develop counseling cells/setups for parents of intellectually disabled children.

Key words: Intellectual disability, psychosocial distress, rehabilitation.