Stress in Egyptian parents of children with developmental disabilities. The moderating effect of social support.
Informal social support—not formal services—shields Egyptian parents from stress when their child’s daily skills are low.
01Research in Context
What this study did
Shawler et al. (2021) asked Egyptian parents of children with developmental delays to fill out surveys. The team wanted to know if social support softens the link between a child’s low daily-living skills and high parenting stress.
They split support into two buckets: informal (family, friends, neighbors) and formal (clinics, schools, agencies).
What they found
Only informal support acted like a shock absorber. When kids had weak adaptive skills, parents with strong informal support felt less stress. Formal services showed no buffering effect.
How this fits with other research
Feng et al. (2022) saw the same pattern in autism families: more social support guarded parents against the downside of severe symptoms. Both studies agree that support, not just symptom reduction, protects caregivers.
Kaniamattam et al. (2023) adds the ‘how.’ In rural India, parents built their own informal networks at rehab-center gates. Their qualitative story backs up the Egyptian numbers: grassroots ties matter most.
Wang et al. (2025) goes a step further. Over six months, active-coping training boosted both support and resilience in autism parents. Their longitudinal data suggests you can strengthen informal networks on purpose.
Why it matters
If you run parent training or send home IFSPs, map each caregiver’s informal circle first. Link them to local parent WhatsApp groups, mosque play-days, or cousin play-date swaps. Do not assume more therapy visits will lower stress; schedule peer-to-peer coffee hours instead.
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02At a glance
03Original abstract
BACKGROUND: Research shows that parents of children with developmental disabilities (DDs) are at increased risk for elevated stress. Child adaptive functioning as well as social supports are key factors influencing stress in parents. However, few studies have examined the interaction between these variables and their contribution to perceived stress especially in Egyptian parents. AIMS: The present study investigated the relationship between parenting stress, child adaptive functioning, and social supports. It also examined the moderating role of social support in the relationship between child adaptive functioning and stress in Egyptian parents of children with DDs. METHOD: Sixty-four Egyptian parents of children with DDs completed assessment measures of parenting stress, child adaptive functioning, and social supports. RESULTS: Parenting stress was negatively associated with child adaptive functioning and informal social supports. However, there was no association between parenting stress and formal social supports. In addition, level of informal social support had a moderating effect on the relationship between child adaptive functioning and level of parenting stress. CONCLUSIONS: The findings highlight the importance of interventions that reduce child-related stressors, particularly low adaptive functioning. Programs that address parenting stress and promote effective informal and formal social supports are crucial to help parents cope with stress.
Research in developmental disabilities, 2021 · doi:10.1016/j.ridd.2021.104045