Latent profiles of depression and post-traumatic growth and their associations with social support and religious participation in mothers of children with developmental disabilities in South Korea.
Family help, formal services, and religious events separate Korean moms who thrive from those who stay stuck in depression.
01Research in Context
What this study did
Park et al. (2026) asked Korean mothers of children with developmental disabilities to fill out a survey. The team looked for patterns in depression and post-traumatic growth scores. They also asked about family support, use of formal services, and how often moms joined religious activities.
What they found
Three clear mom profiles popped out. One group showed high growth and low depression. These moms had more family help, used more services, and attended religious events more often. The other two groups had mixed or high depression and lower growth.
How this fits with other research
Bourke-Taylor et al. (2012) saw the same thing earlier: mom factors beat child factors for mental health. Plant et al. (2007) also flagged weak social support as a top depression risk. The new twist is the upside: Kyung adds growth and shows religious participation as a fresh support source.
Higgins et al. (2021) used the same Korean survey style and found mom depression blocks healthy habits. Kyung extends that work by showing which moms stay mentally strong in the first place.
Liang et al. (2021) in Taiwan found maternal depression and low family support hurt quality of life in moms of kids with ADHD. Kyung mirrors the pattern in Korean moms of kids with broader developmental delays.
Why it matters
You can screen mom mental health with a quick survey and spot the low-support families fast. Add a question about church or temple attendance; it may open a new support channel. When you write goals, think parent support first: link families to respite, parent groups, or faith communities. Strong moms create better home practice and faster child progress.
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02At a glance
03Original abstract
BACKGROUND: Mothers of children with developmental disabilities (DD) experience chronic and cumulative stress, yet many also report positive psychological changes such as post-traumatic growth (PTG). Few studies have examined how depression and PTG co-occur as distinct mental-health patterns or how psychosocial resources influence these profiles. This study identified latent profiles of depression and PTG among Korean mothers of children with DD and examined whether social support and religious participation predicted profile membership. METHOD: A total of 488 mothers of children with DD participated in a survey conducted in Seoul and surrounding areas (2017-2018). Measures included the Post-Traumatic Growth Inventory, PHQ-9 depression scale, perceived informal support, formal service use, and religious participation. Latent profile analysis (LPA) was used to identify distinct psychological profiles, followed by multinomial logistic regression to examine predictors of class membership. RESULTS: A three-class solution best represented the data: (1) Low PTG/High Depression (13.4 %), (2) Moderate PTG/Moderate Depression (47.9 %), and (3) High PTG/Low Depression (38.6 %). Higher levels of family support, formal support services for caregivers, and active religious participation significantly increased the likelihood of belonging to the High PTG/Low Depression class. Self-rated health also differentiated class membership. CONCLUSIONS: Mothers of children with DD demonstrate heterogeneous combinations of distress and growth, supporting a dual-axis understanding of mental health. Social support-especially family support-and active religious participation emerged as key correlates of more adaptive profiles. Findings highlight the importance of culturally embedded support systems and tailored interventions that address both distress reduction and growth promotion.
Research in developmental disabilities, 2026 · doi:10.1016/j.ridd.2026.105235