Ecuadorian mothers of preschool children with and without intellectual disabilities: Individual and family dimensions.
Ecuadorian moms of preschoolers with ID feel just as close to their families but report lower stress and higher control than moms of typical kids.
01Research in Context
What this study did
Granieri et al. (2020) gave a short survey to Ecuadorian mothers of preschoolers. Half the kids had an intellectual disability. Half were typically developing.
The team asked about family closeness, stress, and how much control moms felt they had.
What they found
Moms in both groups said their families felt equally close and happy. Surprisingly, moms of kids with ID reported lower stress and higher perceived control.
How this fits with other research
Lancioni et al. (2006) saw the same thing in an earlier Ecuador sample. They showed most stress came from poverty, not the disability itself.
Beaumont et al. (2008) in Sweden also found money and health predicted mom well-being more than the ID label did.
Condy et al. (2021) adds a twist. They found partner satisfaction, not general cohesion, drives how moms rate overall family life. The target paper’s null cohesion finding lines up once you see partner closeness is the real lever.
Why it matters
Stop assuming every mom of a child with ID is highly stressed. Ask about money, health, and partner support first. If those are solid, family life can feel just as strong. Use brief screens for economic strain and relationship warmth before you write heavy stress-reduction goals.
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02At a glance
03Original abstract
BACKGROUND: Approximately 71,454 children younger than 5 years old have a disability in Ecuador. AIMS: Our objective was to compare and relate family cohesion, adaptability, coping, perceived stress, and control with family satisfaction of Ecuadorian mothers of preschool children with and without intellectual disabilities (ID). METHOD: Participants were 384 Ecuadorian mothers: 111 had a child with ID and 273had a child without ID. The FACES II, Family Satisfaction Scale and Moos Coping Response Inventory were used. RESULTS: No significant differences were found between mothers of children with and without intellectual disabilities on their perceptions of family cohesion, adaptability or family satisfaction. Mothers of children with ID perceived less stress and more control over their children and adopted more approach coping strategies compared to mothers of children without ID. The mothers 'family satisfaction was positively related to approach coping strategies and to family cohesion and adaptability, and negatively related to avoidant coping strategies-regardless of whether their children had a disability or not. CONCLUSIONS AND IMPLICATIONS: These data are in accordance with an adaptive approach to disability and emphasise the capacity of individuals and families to cope.
Research in developmental disabilities, 2020 · doi:10.1016/j.ridd.2020.103735