Factors related to parenting styles of Chinese mothers of children with and without intellectual disability.
Chinese moms of kids with ID parent more harshly when stressed—cut stress and boost support to shift style.
01Research in Context
What this study did
Researchers asked 312 Chinese mothers about their parenting style. Half had kids with intellectual disability. Half had kids without.
They used two standard surveys. One measured parenting style. One measured stress and family support.
What they found
Mothers of kids with ID used the same warm, reasoning style as other moms. But they also used more harsh, controlling tactics.
Higher stress pushed moms toward harsh control. More family support pulled them back toward warmth.
How this fits with other research
Fucà et al. (2025) found moms of kids with Down syndrome feel more stress than dads. This extends the Chinese finding that maternal stress shapes parenting.
Northup et al. (1991) showed social support lowers stress in autism moms. The new study confirms this pattern holds in Chinese culture and links it to actual parenting choices.
Higgins et al. (2021) warned that stressed parents overrate child problems. The Chinese data suggest stressed moms may also parent more harshly, creating a feedback loop.
Zhang et al. (2023) found positive parenting boosts child social skills. Together these papers show why reducing mom stress matters for both parenting style and child outcomes.
Why it matters
When you coach Chinese families, screen mom stress first. Add family support like grandparent training or dad coaching. Less stress equals warmer parenting and better child progress.
Want CEUs on This Topic?
The ABA Clubhouse has 60+ free CEUs — live every Wednesday. Ethics, supervision & clinical topics.
Join Free →Add one question about mom stress to your intake form and offer a grandparent support group.
02At a glance
03Original abstract
BACKGROUND: Parenting styles play a crucial role in children's development. However, approaches to parenting children with intellectual disability (ID) beyond Western cultures have been underexamined. This study compared the self-reported parenting styles of Chinese mothers of children with and without ID and examined some factors that might be related. METHODS: Chinese mothers of children with ID (n = 173) and mothers of typically developing children (n = 119) completed measures of their parenting style, parenting stress, parenting sense of competence and family support. RESULTS: Both groups endorsed similar levels of authoritative parenting, but mothers of children with ID were more likely to report adopting strategies aligned with authoritarian parenting. For mothers in the ID group, family support moderated the effects of parenting stress and parenting sense of competence on authoritative parenting. Parenting stress and parenting sense of competence, respectively, predicted authoritarian parenting for mothers of children with and without ID. CONCLUSIONS: This study highlights the importance of reducing parenting stress, strengthening parenting sense of competence and providing family support in order to promote optimal parenting styles for Chinese mothers of children with ID.
Journal of intellectual disability research : JIDR, 2023 · doi:10.1111/jir.13029