Abstract

Emotional intelligence plays a significant role in understanding and managing emotions in everyday life and is particularly important in parenting. Parents of children with developmental disabilities often face unique emotional, psychological, and social challenges compared to parents of typically developing children. The present study aimed to examine and compare the levels of emotional intelligence among parents of developmentally disabled children and parents of typically developing children. The study adopted a quantitative descriptive survey research design. A total of 140 parents were selected for the study, including 70 parents of typically developing children and 70 parents of children with developmental disabilities. The Emotional Intelligence Scale, developed by Arun Kumar and Suraksha Pal, was used as the data collection tool. The collected data were analyzed using mean, standard deviation, and t-test to determine the difference between the two groups. The results revealed that parents of typically developing children had significantly higher emotional intelligence (M = 301.86, SD = 48.51) than parents of children with developmental disabilities (M = 205.11, SD = 61.77). The calculated t-value (10.30) was found to be significant at the 0.01 level, indicating a statistically significant difference between the two groups. The findings suggest that the emotional challenges associated with raising children with developmental disabilities may influence the emotional intelligence of parents. The study highlights the need for counseling services, emotional support programs, and parent training initiatives to strengthen emotional coping abilities among parents of children with developmental disabilities.