Psychological variables as correlates of adjustment in mothers of children with intellectual disabilities: cross-sectional and longitudinal relationships.
Accepting hard thoughts, not just noticing them, predicts lower anxiety and depression in moms of kids with ID.
01Research in Context
What this study did
Gaynor et al. (2008) followed 67 moms of kids with intellectual disability for one year.
They asked how willing moms were to feel hard thoughts without pushing them away.
They also asked how anxious, depressed, or stressed moms felt at two time points.
What they found
Moms who accepted tough feelings had less anxiety, depression, and stress at both time points.
Mindfulness scores did not predict any of these outcomes.
Acceptance explained about a large share of the drop in distress over the year.
How this fits with other research
Adams et al. (2018) saw the same group of moms, but only stress went up when kids showed daily problem behavior. Depression and anxiety stayed flat, matching T et al.'s view that acceptance may buffer mood even when stress rises.
Dixon (2014) worked with moms of kids with ASD and found cognitive reframing helped, while disengagement hurt. This mirrors T et al.'s point: how moms relate to thoughts matters more than how many thoughts they have.
Jackson et al. (2025) tested the Family Stress Model in ID families and showed parent-child warmth can protect kids from economic stress. T et al.'s focus on maternal acceptance adds the idea that moms protecting themselves from their own distress also protects the family system.
Why it matters
You can teach moms simple acceptance lines: 'Notice the worry, let it ride.' In session, model this by praising moms who describe a tough feeling without fixing it. Over months, track anxiety and depression with brief check-ins; expect slow but steady drops. Share the finding that mindfulness exercises alone were not enough; acceptance of thoughts, not just watching them, drives change.
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02At a glance
03Original abstract
BACKGROUND: Existing research studies suggest that parenting a child with intellectual disabilities (ID) can be a stressful experience. However, there are few data addressing the question of how or why parents might experience considerable distress. In the present study, psychological variables (acceptance, mindfulness, avoidant coping) are explored that may explain some variance in maternal distress. METHOD: Questionnaire data were gathered from mothers of children attending special schools at two time points, 18 months apart (n = 91 at Time 1; n = 57 at Time 2). In addition to measures of the child's functioning, the questionnaire pack included: a measure of acceptance of unwanted thoughts/feelings; a measure of attention to the present (mindfulness); a measure of active avoidance coping; measures of maternal anxiety, depression and stress; and a measure of mothers' positive perceptions of their child. RESULTS: In cross-sectional analysis, acceptance was negatively associated with maternal anxiety, depression and stress, such that mothers who were generally more accepting reported fewer psychological adjustment problems. Longitudinal analysis showed that acceptance is bidirectionally related to anxiety and depression. Mindfulness was not significantly related to maternal distress, and avoidance coping was positively cross-sectionally associated with depression only. There were no associations between psychological variables and maternal positive perceptions. CONCLUSIONS: These data suggest that acceptance, in particular, may be a construct that explains some variance in maternal distress. Further research could focus on the utility of acceptance-based interventions (e.g. Acceptance and Commitment Therapy) in the support of families with a child with ID.
Journal of intellectual disability research : JIDR, 2008 · doi:10.1111/j.1365-2788.2007.00974.x