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Objectives: The objective behind this study was investigating the relationships between family functioning and psychological hardiness in parents of exceptional children versus parents of normal children.

Methods: The study was causal-comparative. Population included all parents of normal and exceptional students in Bojnurd City studying in ordinary and exceptional schools in the academic year 2010-2011. Participants were 190 parents: 50 parents with exceptional children and 140 with normal children. Multistage cluster sampling was used too select the sample. Family functioning questionnaire and psychological hardiness questionnaire were used for data collection. Data were analyzed using Kolmogrov-Smirnov test, independent t-test, Mann-Whitney U test, and Spearman correlation.

Results: Findings suggested there was significant statistical relationship between family functioning and psychological hardiness in parents of exceptional and normal children (P<0.0001), and family functioning was significantly higher in parents of exceptional children compared to parents of normal children (P<0.0001). In addition, psychological hardiness was significantly higher in normal children parents compared to exceptional children parents (P<0.001).

Discussion: Results indicate significant relationship between family functioning and psychological hardiness in parents of normal and exceptional children.