RT Article
T1 "God Chose Me to Go Through This Experience": Religious and Emotional Perspectives of Bedouin Mothers in Israel Coping with a Child with Special Needs
JF Journal of religion and health
VO 65
IS 1
SP 676
OP 696
A1 Paryente, Bilha
A1 Barak-Levy, Yael
A2 Barak-Levy, Yael
LA English
YR 2026
UL https://ixtheo.de/Record/1963130189
AB This study examined the coping strategies of 40 mothers of children with special needs within Israeli Bedouin society, focusing on the prediction between mothers’ narcissistic characteristics and their religious coping. The findings revealed two distinct maternal perspectives on a child's disability: (1) a pessimistic perspective (perceiving the disability as divine punishment), and (2) an optimistic perspective (perceiving the disability as divine gift/opportunity). The pessimistic reactions to the child’s diagnosis included shock, fear and sorrow, while the optimistic view included feelings of love, caring and acceptance of the child. Regression analyses indicated that higher levels of narcissism predicted stronger negative religious coping but were unrelated to positive religious coping. Understanding the combination of religious and emotional perspectives contributing to Bedouin mothers’ coping may help practitioners design and implement culturally sensitive interventions for a wide range of traditional populations.
K1 Children
K1 Mothers
K1 Narcissism
K1 Religious Coping
K1 Special needs
DO 10.1007/s10943-025-02534-w