Religious coping in mothers/fathers diagnosed with Down Syndrome in their babies before birth

Down syndrome, which can be detected during pregnancy, is a risk factor as a result of tests (triple and quadruple test, CVS, Amniocentesis). The high risk ratio creates a traumatic effect on families. Shaken by this news before birth, parents are faced with an uncertainty that they do not know what to do. With this uncertainty; Psychological disorders such as post-traumatic stress disorder, anxiety (anxiety) and depression are experienced. In the research, it is aimed to reveal the effectiveness of religion in coping with the emerging stress and tension. In the research, semi-structured interview technique from the qualitative research method was applied. In this technique, clear, easy and open-ended questions were created that offer the opportunity to examine in-depth. Data were collected from 16 participant mothers and fathers using the snowball sampling method in the study. Information was obtained with the "Personal Information Form", which includes the sociodemographic characteristics of the parents. The answers to the interview questions recorded with a voice recorder were transferred to the computer environment (Word) and made suitable for analysis. These data were gathered under appropriate themes and descriptive and content analysis was made. 5 different codes were created for the emotional reactions of the parents when they learned the diagnosis. These; shock, sadness, fear-anxiety, surprise and denial. The religious interpretation styles of the parents who were diagnosed with Down syndrome in their babies were evaluated under themes such as destiny, test, special election, punishment-plagiarism, reward-grace, and forgiveness-entering heaven. At the same time, religious coping activities in parents who learned the diagnosis of down syndrome; It has been analyzed under the name of elements such as prayer, worship, gratitude, not giving up hope in Allah, making vows and visiting shrines. As a result, it was seen that religious meaning systems and religious coping elements were beneficial in accepting their children and reducing the tension and stress experienced by mothers and fathers whose babies were diagnosed with Down syndrome and who went through a difficult process.