Anxiety, meaning in life, self-efficacy and resilience in families with one or more members with special educational needs and disability during COVID-19 pandemic in Greece.
Assimina Tsibidaki
PMID 33370720WHAT IT FOUND
During the Greek lockdown, parents in families with special needs reported higher state anxiety and resilience than their university-age children.
Across the group, higher resilience and a greater sense of meaning in life were linked to lower anxiety, while self-efficacy showed no such association.
Key findings
01Parents reported significantly higher state anxiety, total anxiety, presence of meaning in life, and resilience scores than their university-student children.
02Higher levels of resilience and a greater sense of meaning in life were significantly associated with lower anxiety scores, but self-efficacy was not linked to anxiety.
03The study sample was small and drawn from a specific group of teacher-education students, preventing analysis of differences across disability types or between those with and without disabilities.
STILL TO COME
How it was doneWhat they found
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What it does not show
The sample was very small (61 participants) and recruited from a specific group of teacher-education students and their parents, so findings may not apply to other families. The study was cross-sectional, so it cannot prove that resilience or meaning in life causes lower anxiety, only that they are linked. The small sample size prevented the researchers from analysing differences between specific types of disabilities or between participants who had SEND themselves versus those who had family members with SEND. Data collection occurred early in the pandemic, and the authors note that strict government measures and low infection rates in Greece at that time may have influenced participants' psychological state.
Declared interests
The author declared no potential conflicts of interest and received no financial support for the research.
The easy way to misread this
Do not assume that building self-efficacy reduces anxiety in these families. The study found no significant correlation between self-efficacy scores and anxiety levels, whereas resilience and meaning in life were linked to lower anxiety.