Moderate Intensity Physical Exercise Effectiveness on Stress and Happiness Level Among Parents of PhysicallyDisabled Children

Abstract

The upbringing of a physically disabled child involves huge monetary funds and constant attention from the parent. It leads to minimal sociability and personal attention for the parents, which contributes to high stress and low happiness in the long run. Hence, this experimental study was conducted to measure the effect of moderate physical exercise on stress and happiness among parents of physically disabled children using the Perceived Stress Scale and Subjective Happiness Scale. The study goals were to evaluate the potential sociodemographic variables and the benefits of moderate-intensity exercise in stress and happiness management. Participants were allocated into either an exercise group or a control group; parents in the exercise group were given clear-cut
instructions on moderate-intensity exercises to complete in 6 weeks. The data were analysed using Chi-square, Pearson correlation, and ANOVA from SPSS software. The findings showed socio-demographic variables and physical activity level have no significant relationship (p>0.05) on stress and happiness level among parents of physically disabled children except for employment status (p<0.05). The moderate intensity exercise has a significant effect on stress levels (p<0.05) but no significant effect on happiness levels (p>0.05) among parents of physically disabled children. Altogether, the findings from this study proclaimed that moderate-intensity exercise affects stress but not the happiness level of parents of physically disabled children. With that, a potential intervention tool through exercise adoption can be utilized as a medium to manage stress in parents of physically disabled children. On that account, elucidation on physical exercise towards stress levels in parents of physically disabled children can be achieved and explained in an informative manner. Further studies are warranted to confirm this study findings.