Parenting stress in mothers of adults with an intellectual disability: parental cognitions in relation to child characteristics and family support.
A mother’s own thoughts about parenting predict her stress level more than where her adult child with ID lives or how much help she gets.
01Research in Context
What this study did
Bigby et al. (2009) asked mothers of adults with intellectual disability to fill out four short surveys. The forms measured parenting satisfaction, self-esteem, sense of control, stress, and the help they get from family and friends.
The team then used statistics to see which thoughts best predicted how stressed the moms felt.
What they found
Mothers who felt less satisfied, lower self-esteem, and little control reported the highest stress. These three thinking patterns together explained most of the stress the mothers felt.
How much help Mom got from others mattered, but her own thoughts were the stronger driver.
How this fits with other research
Saunders et al. (2005) ran the same model on mothers of school-age kids with ID and found the same pattern. The 2009 study extends the idea into adulthood, showing the power of parental thoughts does not fade as the child ages.
Reid et al. (2005) looked at adults too, but focused on where the adult child lived. They found placement made no difference to Mom’s mental health. Bigby et al. (2009) agree: thoughts and support beat living arrangements.
Beaumont et al. (2008) and Lancioni et al. (2006) seem to disagree at first. They say money problems and poor health cause stress, not the diagnosis. The two views fit once you see that hardship hurts a mother’s sense of control and satisfaction. Fix both cash woes and thinking patterns for the biggest gain.
Why it matters
If you serve adults with ID, ask Mom how she feels about her parenting, herself, and her control. A quick rating scale can flag high stress before it boils over. Pair family support with brief cognitive reframing or mindfulness skills. You may cut stress without moving the adult child or adding hours of service.
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02At a glance
03Original abstract
BACKGROUND: There is a body of evidence that indicates that the cognitions of parents of children with intellectual disabilities (ID) play an important role in influencing parental stress. However, there is a paucity of evidence about the experience of parents of adult children with ID. This study sought to apply a model of parenting stress to mothers of adults with ID. Of particular interest were the parental cognitions of parenting self-esteem and parental locus of control. METHOD: Face-to face interviews were administered with 44 mothers of adults with ID. They completed the Vineland Adaptive and Maladaptive Behaviour Scale, the Family Support Scale, the Parenting Sense of Competence Scale, a shortened version of the Parental Locus of Control Scale and the Parenting Stress Index. RESULTS: Correlations were observed between parenting stress and the other study variables. Regression analysis revealed that parental cognitive variables predicted 61% of the variance in parenting stress. Parenting satisfaction, a subscale of the measure of parenting sense of competence, mediated the relationships between adaptive behaviour and parenting stress and between family support and parenting stress. CONCLUSIONS: These results indicate the importance of cognitive variables in the stress of mothers of adults with ID. Potential avenues of future research might focus on the experience of fathers and the impact of positive perceptions as a cognitive factor.
Journal of intellectual disability research : JIDR, 2009 · doi:10.1111/j.1365-2788.2009.01207.x