Examination of the relationship among self effi̇cacy, social support and life satisfaction levels of the parents of children with developmental disabilities

The aim of the study is to examine the relationship among the parental social support perceived by parents whose children are in early childhood period and have developmental disability, their self efficacy and life satisfaction level and to define the predictor variables of this relationship. The participants of the study were 225 parents (139 females, 86 males) whose children diognosed with developmental disability. The parents participated in the study live in Eskisehir and Zonguldak and their children continue private special education and rehabilitation centers governed by Ministry of Education, and developmental support unit within a university. "Personel Information Form" developed by the researcher was used to get personel information of the parents in the study and their children with developmental disability. "Parental Social Support Scale" was used to measure the perceived parental social support while perceived parental self efficacy was measured by "Parental Self Efficacy Scale (Turkish Version). Additionally, "Life Satisfaction Scale" was used to measure parental life satisfaction. As a result of study, it is determined that there is a low and meaningful relationship between parents' social support and their satisfaction with this support. Morever, it is stated that parental self efficacy perception varies with children' diagnosis types and their income level. After all, it is concluded that there is a high and meaningful relationship between parents' self efficacy and social support variables and parents' life satisfaction levels. It is indicated that these two variables together predict the significant part of total variance in life satisfaction. As a consequence of analyses, it is came out that both variables are very important predictors for life satisfaction. The findings were discussed. Keywords: Parents of children with developmental disabilities, social support, self-efficacy, life satisfaction.