Abstract:

Even though research is ongoing on the COVID-19 pandemic and on the families with members with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND), the data so far collected indicate that COVID-19 marked a considerable change and a new reality. This study aims to explore resilience and its association with demographic characteristics in Greek families of university students with or without members with SEND during the COVID-19 pandemic in Greece. The study population consisted of 411 participants, 130 men and 281 women, of which the 194 were children (university students) in the 3rd and 4th years of their studies and the 217 were parents. The age of participants ranged from 20 to 60 years. A Self-report Questionnaire and the Resilience Scale (RS) were used for data collection. According to the findings, participants (total sample) showed moderate resilience and specific demographic characteristics seemed to have a significant association with resilience. On one hand, there were associations between resilience and a) the existence or not of a SEND in the family, b) the family role (parent or child), c) the family type, and d) the employment status. In particular, a higher degree of resilience was shown in families with one or more members with SEND, the nuclear and extended families, and the participants with full and part-time employment. On the other hand, resilience was not statistically significant concerning sex, level of education, and marital status. Finally, statistically significant differences were found based on the existence or non-existence of one or more members with SEND in the family in combination with the age group related to the variables of resilience. The study’s main conclusion was that university students’ families with one or more members with SEND activated resilience as a mechanism for preserving their balance and that specific individual and family demographic characteristics affect the degree of resilience.

Keywords:

Resilience, demographic characteristics, COVID-19 pandemic, families with and without members with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND), Greece.