Longitudinal evaluation of the Family Stress Model in families of children with intellectual disabilities.
Boosting everyday parent-child warmth can blunt the developmental harm of poverty and stress in families of kids with ID.
01Research in Context
What this study did
Researchers tracked the families of children with intellectual disability for six years. Kids were 5-11 years old at the start. Parents answered yearly questions about money problems, stress, and how close they felt to their child.
The team tested the Family Stress Model. This model says hard times hit kids through parent stress and weak bonds, not directly.
What they found
The model fit the data well. When money was tight, parents felt more distress. Distress led to weaker parent-child warmth. Weak warmth, in turn, predicted poorer child social and daily-living skills.
Parent-child relationship quality acted like a buffer. Strong bonds softened the blow of poverty and stress on child outcomes.
How this fits with other research
Gaynor et al. (2008) showed moms who accept tough feelings have less anxiety and depression over time. Jackson et al. (2025) now prove that acceptance is not enough; the actual parent-child warmth is the active ingredient.
Kuenzel et al. (2021) found child behavior problems plus money stress predict maternal depression from . The new study widens the lens: it tracks both mothers and fathers and shows the pathway runs through relationship warmth, not just parent mood.
Giofrè et al. (2014) claimed high support and low financial hardship protect families no matter how severe the child’s behavior. Jackson et al. (2025) agree but add detail: even when cash is short, boosting daily positive parent-child moments can still shield the child.
Why it matters
You can’t fix a family’s bank balance in a 30-minute session, but you can coach warm interaction right now. Use behavioral skills training: model labeled praise, joint play, and simple daily routines that put smiles on both faces. Track these moments as closely as you track problem behavior; they are the active treatment for stress that comes from outside the home.
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02At a glance
03Original abstract
BACKGROUND: The Family Stress Model (FSM) is a developmental framework used to explain the relationship between family economic hardship and children's developmental outcomes through parent factors. As a developmental theory, the FSM should be able to explain the impact of early adversity on developmental outcomes for all children, including children with intellectual disabilities. METHODS: Primary caregivers (n = 372, 88 % White British) of children with intellectual disabilities (M age at Wave 1=7.31 years, SD=1.91) completed an online survey at three time points. The survey measured subjective and objective poverty, parental psychological distress, parenting behaviours, child-parent relationship quality, and the developmental outcomes of the child with intellectual disabilities. A series of preregistered structural equation models were used to examine whether the FSM was applicable to a sample of families with children with intellectual disabilities. RESULTS: The final model testing the FSM using dimensions of child-parent relationship quality and parenting behaviours whilst covarying parenting and relationship variables had satisfactory model fit (χ2(25)= 69.839; p < .001; CFI= .949; TLI= .887; SMSR= .055; RMSEA= .069, AIC= 18444.623). Child-parent relationship quality had a stronger effect on children's developmental outcomes compared to the primary caregiver's parenting behaviours. CONCLUSIONS: The FSM can be successfully applied as a developmental framework to families of children with intellectual disabilities. Reducing family economic adversity and parental psychological distress through early interventions and supportive social policy could significantly improve child-parent relationship quality, thereby improving developmental outcomes over time for children with intellectual disabilities. Future research studies should aim to test whether other theoretical models hold up when applied to this population.
Research in developmental disabilities, 2025 · doi:10.1016/j.ridd.2025.105082