Marital Relations and Coping Strategies of Spouses in Families with a Child with a Congenital or Chronic Disease (Cerebral Palsy and Spina Bifida)

In the master’s thesis “Marital Relations and Coping Strategies of Spouses in Families with a Child with a Congenital or Chronic Disease (Cerebral Palsy and Spina Bifida)” the author analyzes current studies and researches on the psychology of the families that have children with a congenital or chronic disease. The thesis describes the main branches and structures of the studies and research in this field. Within the framework of an empirical study one can see differences between marital relations in families with healthy children, and in families where a child suffers from Cerebral Palsy and Spina bifida. The paper analyses the coping behaviors of the spouses, discrepancies are found between the coping strategies of spouses with healthy children and with children who suffer from certain illnesses. The collected data is interpreted, conclusions are drawn. In closing, the author investigates whether the received data coincides with the hypothesis of the study. The work is summarized.