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Parenting Stress in Families of Children with Disabilities

Authors:
Timothy B Smith at Brigham Young University
Timothy B Smith
Matthew N. I. Oliver
Matthew N. I. Oliver
Matthew N. I. Oliver
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Mark S Innocenti at Utah State University
Mark S Innocenti
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Abstract

Using measures of child and family functioning, this study evaluated levels of parenting stress in 880 families of children with disabilities. Results suggest that factors such as income, time available for interaction with the child, and social support predict parenting stress much better than do aspects of child functioning. Implications for intervention and for future research are discussed.
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Amcnun
juurnul
of
Urthopaychruty,
71(2),
Apnl2001
@
2001
Aniencdn
Orthopsychiatnc
Associahon,
Inc.
Parenting Stress in Families
of
Children with Disabilities
Timothy
B.
Smith,
Ph.D.,
Matthew N.I.
Oliver,
M.A., Mark
S.
Innocenti,
Ph.D.
Using measures of child and familyfunctioing, this study evaluated levels of parenting
stress in
880
families of children with disabilities. Results suggest that factors such as
inconw,
time available for interaction with the child, and social support predict parenting
stress much better than do aspects of childfunctioning. Implications for internention
und
firfuture research are discussed.
arenting stress is an important variable to
consider when providing services for chil-
P
dren or their families. It has been associated
with low parenting satisfaction, higher symptoma-
tology
(Koeske
&
Koeske, 1990),
abusive behavior
(Kelly, 1998; Rodriguiz
&
Green, 1997; Whipple
&
Webster-Strattun, 1991),
and insecure child at-
tachment
(Hadidian
&
Merbian, 1996; Jarvis
&
Creasey, 1991).
Indeed, some authors have argued
that
in
order for many families to carry out pre-
scribed treatments for their children, professionals
must first assist parents in managing their stress
levels
(Dunst, Leet,
&
Trivette, 1988; McDowell,
Saylor, Taylor, Boyce,
&
Stokes, 1995).
Parenting stress is a particularly salient variable
when working with families that include children
who have developmental disabilities
(Qson, 1997).
Multiple demands on family resources are preva-
lent
in
such families, and stress levels tend to be
elevated
(Beresford, 1994; Tunali
&
Power, 1993)
and adversely affect perceptions of family func-
tioning
(@son, 1997).
Furthermore, families with
children who have developmental disabilities must
be considered as being at particular risk for prob-
lematic parent-child relationships that can interfere
with child development and needed interventions
(McKay, Pickens,
&
Stewart, 1996)
Although past research has indicated that parents
of children with disabilities do experience high
levels of stress, it is unclear to what degree this
stress is related to family functioning variables,
such as social support and financial resources, as
well as to the severity of the child’s disability
(Feldman, Leger,
&
Walton-Allen, 1997; lnnocen-
ti,
Huh,
&
Boyce, 1992; Rodriguiz
&
Murphy, 1997).
Information about the relative impact of family re-
sources and the child’s level of developmental
im-
pairment on parenting stress would not only help
in
identifying which parents are more at-risk for ad-
verse symptomatology,
it
would also help
in
de-
signing more effective interventions by targeting
the variables that are most related to parenting
stress. The present study was conducted to deter-
mine the relative weight of both family and child
functioning variables
in
predicting parenting stress.
METHOD
Participants
A
total of
880
parents of a child who was moder-
ately to severely developmentally delayed were re-
~~~
A
revised version
of
a paper submitted
to
fllp
lournal
iri
/une
7999.
Research was supported
iri
part by
U.S.
Departmerit
of
Edura-
tiori
corrtract
HS90010007
to
the
Early
Iriterueritiori
Research Institute, Utah State Uriiversify.
Authors
are at: Dryartmerit
of
Coioiseliiig
Psychology arid Special Education,
Brigliam
Young
University, Provo, Utah (Smith); Departmrrit
of
Psychology,
Uriiversity
of
South
Dakota, Vermilliori (Oliver); arid Early Iriteruerrtiori Research
lristitute,
Utah State University, Logan
(/ririo~riti).
257
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... Такође, резултати ранијих истраживања износе налазе који говоре да је квалитет живота породица дјеце са сметњама у развоју нарушен и да је повезан са депресивним стањима и родитељским дистресом (Sarajlija et al., 2013;Dardas & Ahmad, 2014;Dizdarevic et al., 2020). У истраживању које је обухватило 880 родитеља дјеце са сметњама у развоју испитивао се ниво доживљеног стреса, а добијени резултати показали су да сам степен сметње у развоју има минималан утицај на родитељски стрес (Smith et al., 2001). Резултати ранијих студија показују да родитељи дјеце са тешкоћама у развоју доживљавају више стреса у односу на родитеље дјеце типичног развоја (Gupta, 2007). ...
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The quality of life in families of children with developmental disabilities significantly influences family functionality and the well-being of all members. Various family characteristics often affect this quality. This study aimed to examine the impact of family characteristics and family stress levels on the quality of life in families of children with developmental disabilities. The sample consisted of 122 parents of children with developmental disabilities. Data were collected using a sociodemographic questionnaire, the Beach Center Family Quality of Life Scale (Beach FQOL Scale), and the Stress Symptoms Scale-16. The results showed that parents rated their family's quality of life as satisfactory, with Family Interactions being the highest-rated domain and Emotional Well-being the lowest. Families with only one child reported better quality of life in the domains of Family Interactions, Parenting, and Support compared to families with three or more children. Families of children with hearing, speech, or voice impairments reported the highest satisfaction in the Family Interactions domain. Furthermore, the findings indicated that parents in the sample experienced relatively low stress levels, with no significant correlation between family quality of life and stress levels.
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Purpose: To explore the impact of the online ENVISAGE program for parents of children with neurodevelopmental disabilities (NDD) on parents' perception of themself, their child with a disability, and their family, as well as to explore experiences of participating in the program in Croatia. Methods: In this before-after discourse analysis study, participants took part in the five-week ENVISAGE program. There were two semi-structured interviews for each participant: within one month before and after participating in the program. The proportions of positive, neutral, and negative sentences about themself, their child, and their family from two interviews were compared on an individual and group level. The perceived changes and experiences with the program were also analyzed qualitatively. Results: Data from thirteen participants were included. From the three pre-determined discourse categories (self, child, and family), most changes were observed in parents' perception of self (average increase in positive views of 8.8% and decrease in negative of 5.3%). Qualitative results showed multiple positive self-perceived impacts on parents' lives. Participants' experiences with ENVISAGE were consistently positive; all believed they benefited from the program. Conclusions: The results support our assumption that participation in ENVISAGE positively affects multiple areas of life, particularly parents' views of themself.
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... Qualitative content analysis was selected as the method for analysis (Schreier, 2021). Content analysis is textual analysis, in which the aim is to organize the data into concise and clear content without losing the information it contains. ...
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  • Nov 2023
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Preprint
Full-text available
  • Dec 2023
Objective The seasonal discourse surrounding the challenges faced by parents of children with Developmental Disabilities (DD) contributes to their marginalization, with limited exploration of intersectionality based on sociodemographic factors in India. This study aims to investigate differences in stress levels, coping strategies, and quality of life among mothers and fathers of children with DD. Additionally, it seeks to explore the impact of sociodemographic factors on quality of life. Method A cross sectional study with a sample of 400 parents (193 fathers and 207 mothers) as identified through NGOs (working in the field of disability) across the state of Odisha, India participated in the study. Parents were administered with Parental Stress Scale, Ways of Coping questionnaire and Quality of Life BREF in addition to the sociodemographic information Results Findings revealed significant differences in stress, coping strategies, and quality of life between mothers and fathers, with mothers consistently reporting higher stress and lower quality of life in all domains. Multiple regression analysis established a link between quality of life, stress, and coping styles, highlighting that positive reappraisal and escape avoidance coping adversely affected physical, psychological, and environmental domains of quality of life. Sociodemographic findings, confirmed by MANOVA and post hoc analysis, indicated evident marginalization, yet the study did not uncover intersectionality. Conclusion the study advocates for heightened empathy in service delivery to improve the overall quality of life for parents of children with DD, shedding light on the nuanced challenges faced by different demographic groups.
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Article
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The parenting stress of families who have a child with a disability is an area receiving considerable research. The present study used a family strengths or “normality” perspective to investigate three issues regarding parent-related and child-related parenting stress, as measured by the Parenting Stress Index (PSI) (Abidin, 1990). A large sample (n = 725) of families who had a young child with disabilities participated. A comparison of parent-related and child-related parenting stress between the sample of families with a child with disabilities and the PSI normative sample was conducted. The distribution of PSI scores for the sample of families of children with disabilities was examined for statistical normality, and normative data for these families were presented. An item analysis was conducted on child-related parenting stress to examine issues regarding its construct validity for families of children with disabilities. Issues regarding the use of stress measures and to the construct of child-related stress as these impact on early intervention activities are discussed.
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Parenting stress as it pertains to the families of medically fragile children of different ethnic backgrounds has been understudied. Possible correlates of change in parenting stress such as child development, family support, resources and income were examined in the families of 105 infants with intraventricular hemorrhage #opIVH#cp participating in an early intervention program between one and three years of age. Correlational analyses showed that slower developmental progress, along with declines in family resources and social support coincided with increases in parenting stress. Subgroup analyses separately examining these relationships in the 66 white and 39 nonwhite families revealed different correlates for the two populations. Unlike the full sample and the white sample, the non‐white families’ stress changes over the course of intervention seemed correlated only to income change, but not to child's developmental progress or changes in social support. Commonly cited findings regarding parents’ stress examined primarily with white families may need additional consideration with more diverse samples, as the same variables may have different influence in different cultures.†This article is based on senior research of the first author under the direction of the second author.‡Dagger;Support for this research was provided by grant #HS90010001 from the United States Department of Education to the Early Intervention Research Institute #opEIRI#cp of the Utah State University. The authors thank Dr. A. Finch, Dr. A Glen Casto, Mary Ellen Heiner and Sonja Pinckney for their help and consultation.
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Family Resources, Personal Well-Being, and Early Intervention
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  • Apr 1988
The hypothesis that adequacy of resources is related to personal well-being and adherence to professionally prescribed child-level regimens was tested. The subjects were 45 mothers of developmentally delayed infants and toddlers participating in an early intervention program. The mothers completed three measurement scales about their family resources, personal well-being, and commitment to professionally prescribed treatments. Hierarchical multiple regression analysis showed that adequacy of resources was related to both well-being and commitment to child-level interventions even after the effects of maternal age, family socioeconomic status and income, and child age and developmental quotient were statistically removed. The results are discussed in terms of assisting families to meet self-identified needs before asking them to carry out professionally prescribed child-level treatments as part of their involvement in early intervention programs.
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Child characteristics, family demographics and family processes: Their effects on the stress experienced by families of children with disabilities
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Parents of children with disabilities are often reported as having more stress than their counterparts. Because past investigations of parent stress have been limited by considering too few sources of stress, this study gathered a large variety of demographic, child and family process variables. Two domains of parenting stress, including those aspects related to the child's characteristics (child related) and those aspects concerned with the parent's attitudes toward parenting (parent related) were analyzed separately. The results showed that the circumstances and processes of a family, as well as child characteristics, must be taken into account when clinicians attempt to mediate problems. This research has direct application for clinicians and interventionists. If intervention hopes to truly serve families, a thorough understanding of parenting stress is needed.
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