Risk factors associated with the mental health of fathers of children with an intellectual disability in Australia.
Australian fathers of kids with ID are more depressed and stressed than other dads—watch for child behaviour problems and low parenting satisfaction as red flags.
01Research in Context
What this study did
Cox et al. (2015) sent surveys to Australian dads who have a child with intellectual disability. They asked about mood, stress, parenting joy, and child behaviour.
The team compared the fathers' scores to national norms to see who was at risk.
What they found
Dads of kids with ID reported more depression and stress than typical Australian fathers. The biggest red flags were child behaviour problems and low parenting satisfaction.
How this fits with other research
Casey et al. (2009) tracked stress day-by-day and saw mothers' stress rise while fathers' stayed flat. The new survey shows fathers still feel high stress when you ask them in one big snapshot, so daily diaries and one-time surveys capture different slices of the same problem.
Kelly et al. (2022) later created a 5-item Parental Adjustment Scale for Australian families. Now you have a quick tool to spot the very fathers R et al. flagged as struggling.
Foody et al. (2015) found fathers of children with autism showed higher blood pressure stress than mothers. Pair their tip to check dads' blood pressure with R et al.'s advice to ask about mood and parenting joy.
Why it matters
Most clinics remember to screen moms. This paper says you should check dads too, especially when the child shows tough behaviour or the dad says parenting is not rewarding. Add two quick questions to your intake: 'How rewarding is parenting for you right now?' and 'Any behaviour issues that wear you out?' If either answer worries you, offer respite, parent coaching, or a referral.
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02At a glance
03Original abstract
BACKGROUND: Raising a child with a disability places considerable demands and stress on parents, which can contribute to mental health difficulties. Research has primarily focused on mothers' mental health, and our understanding of the effects on fathers remains limited. The factors that place fathers at increased risk of mental health difficulties are also poorly understood. This study aimed to redress these gaps by reporting on the mental health of a large sample of fathers of children with an intellectual disability (ID) (aged 3-15 years), comparing this to published Australian norms and mothers of children with ID. The second aim of the study was to explore risk factors associated with fathers' mental health. METHOD: The data for this study come from 315 Australian fathers of children (aged 3-15 years) with ID, who participated in the large-scale evaluation of the Signposts for building better behaviour programme. Fathers completed a range of self-report questionnaires at baseline including the Depression Anxiety Stress Scale (DASS). RESULTS: Fathers in the present sample reported significantly more symptoms of depression and stress than the Australian normative data, with approximately 6-8% reporting symptoms in the severe to extremely severe range. The strongest predictors of fathers' mental health difficulties were children's behaviour problems, daily stress arising from fathers' own needs and children's care needs, and low parenting satisfaction. Socio-economic factors did not predict mental health difficulties. CONCLUSION: This study is among one of the first to report the mental health of fathers of children with a disability in Australia. Findings highlight that some fathers of children with ID are at heightened risk of experiencing mental health difficulties, underscoring the importance of the provision of information and interventions to promote their mental health.
Journal of intellectual disability research : JIDR, 2015 · doi:10.1111/jir.12127