A comparison of stress and coping by fathers of adolescents with mental retardation and fathers of adolescents without mental retardation.

Researchers talked to 30 dads. Half had teenage sons or daughters with intellectual disability. Half had teens without disabilities.

Each father filled out two surveys. One measured daily stress. The other listed ways he copes. The team then compared the groups.

The paper never says which dads scored higher. It only tells us the two groups were compared. No numbers, no winners, no losers.

Eussen et al. (2016) asked the same questions of moms. They found child behavior and maternal stress predict a mom’s life satisfaction today. Like Ferrari et al. (1991), they still could not tell us what improves life later.

Tan et al. (2024) and Chan et al. (2025) moved past description. Both ran short online mindfulness classes for parents. After eight weeks, stress fell by a medium-to-large margin. Their work turns the 1991 snapshot into action: stress can be cut, not just counted.

Eldevik et al. (2006) adds a twist. Low-intensity ABA (12 hrs/wk) gave kids small IQ and language gains, but the benefit was tiny. If child progress is small, parent stress may stay high. Together these papers say: measure stress, then treat both parent and child.

You now know that simply comparing stress is old news. Modern studies show you can lower it with brief parent classes. If you serve teens with ID, pair your skill-building program with a four- or eight-week mindfulness group for dads and moms. One hour a week online can cut stress and keep families in treatment longer.