Longitudinal Trajectories of Maternal Stress for Mothers with Intellectual Disabilities and Borderline Intellectual Functioning: Evidence from the Future of Families and Child Wellbeing Study.
Mothers with ID face 15 years of higher stress that peaks during toddlerhood—screen and support them early and often.
01Research in Context
What this study did
Zeng et al. (2025) tracked stress levels in mothers who have intellectual disabilities or borderline intellectual functioning. The team used data from a large U.S. study that followed families for 15 years. They compared these moms to peers without ID at five child ages: birth, 1, 3, 5, and 9 years.
What they found
Mothers with ID or borderline IF reported higher stress than other moms across the whole study. Stress peaked when children were 1–3 years old and stayed elevated. The gap never closed, showing a long-term pattern rather than a short-term bump.
How this fits with other research
Saunders et al. (2005) and Bigby et al. (2009) already showed that parental thoughts—like feeling in control—shape stress in moms of kids with ID. Weiwen extends that work by showing stress is not just a momentary reaction; it is a 15-year uphill road for moms who have ID themselves.
Lancioni et al. (2006) seems to disagree. They found that poverty, not caregiving, drives poor well-being in mothers of children with ID. The clash clears up when you see the populations: E et al. studied moms of kids with ID; Weiwen studied moms who have ID themselves. Both can be true—poverty hurts, and having ID adds extra load.
Enav et al. (2020) adds that lowering stress helps moms of kids with mild ID parent better. Weiwen’s data say you need to start that stress watch early, right when the child is a toddler.
Why it matters
If you serve families where the parent has ID or borderline IF, plan for chronic stress that spikes in the toddler years. Add a quick stress screen at every visit—starting in infancy. Link families to concrete supports like respite, sleep help, or couples work. Lowering stress is not a side issue; it is a parent-training prerequisite.
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02At a glance
03Original abstract
There are few longitudinal studies on the mental health of parents with intellectual disabilities (ID). This study examined longitudinal trajectories of maternal stress for mothers with ID and borderline intellectual functioning (IF) compared to their peers without ID, over their children's ages. Additionally, it aimed to identify the impact of various individual, socioeconomic, and contextual factors on maternal stress. We used public data from the Future of Families and Child Wellbeing Study (FFCWS) between Years 1-15. Using mixed-effects multilevel modeling, we analyzed changes in, and predictors of maternal stress over time for mothers with ID (n = 89), borderline IF (n = 346), and without ID (n = 1,898). Maternal stress was especially high for mothers with ID and borderline IF when their children were ages 1-3. Across Years 1-15, mothers with ID and borderline IF reported higher levels of maternal stress compared to mothers without ID. Mothers who reported receipt of Social Security Income (SSI), greater levels of material hardship, and more children in the household reported higher maternal stress, whereas those who identified as Hispanic, were employed, married/partnered, and had greater social support reported lower maternal stress. Mothers with ID and borderline IF may experience elevated levels of chronic maternal stress when compared to their peers without ID. Effective early interventions, supportive programs, and policies that are tailored for mothers with ID and borderline IF who have younger children may be especially needed.
Journal of autism and developmental disorders, 2025 · doi:10.1080/26904586.2023.2259382