Work-Family Conflict, Parental Stress, and Work Centrality Among Parents of 0-4-Year-Old Children with Neurodevelopmental Disorders.
Parents of babies/toddlers with NDDs feel work and family pulling them apart far more than other parents, and that clash raises their stress.
01Research in Context
What this study did
Limor’s team sent online surveys to 214 parents of babies or toddlers with neurodevelopmental disorders. Half the kids had autism, half had other delays. They asked how much work and family life clash, how stressed parents feel, and how central work is to their identity.
They also surveyed 107 parents of typically developing kids the same age. Then they ran stats to see if stress acts as a bridge between work-family conflict and daily strain.
What they found
Parents of 0-young learners with NDDs scored almost twice as high on work-family conflict. Their parental stress was also markedly higher than the comparison group.
The numbers showed stress fully mediates the link: when work and family collide, stress rises, and that stress drives overall strain.
How this fits with other research
Lai et al. (2015) saw the same stress spike in ASD parents, but they looked at older kids and did not ask about work. Limor zooms in on babies and adds the work-family layer.
Hamama (2022) seems to disagree: Israeli moms who felt capable and used “normal life” coping reported high life satisfaction. The twist is age and focus—L studied mixed-age kids and measured positive feelings, while Limor focused on 0-4 and measured conflict. Both can be true: stress is high, yet moms can still find joy when they feel effective.
Alon (2019) and Turk et al. (2010) add that social support boosts growth and optimism. Limor’s conflict data fit here: less support likely fuels the stress they captured.
Why it matters
If you serve families with babies or toddlers newly diagnosed with ASD or other delays, ask about work schedules and stress at every intake. A quick five-item work-family conflict scale can flag parents who need flex-time advocacy, respite, or parent support groups. Early intervention teams can write letters to employers requesting remote work or adjusted hours, cutting the conflict that drives stress before it snowballs.
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02At a glance
03Original abstract
This study compares work-family conflict (WFC), parental stress, and work centrality among parents of children aged 0-4 with neurodevelopmental disorders (NDDs), compared to parents of children of the same age without an NDD diagnosis. It also examines the role of parental stress as a mediator or moderator in the relationship between parental group (child with NDD vs. no NDD diagnosis) and WFC. 346 Israeli parents (155 with children with NDDs, 191 with children without an NDD diagnosis) completed online questionnaires. Parents of children with NDDs work less and have lower education and income. They experience greater parental stress and struggle more with WFC. An interaction effect between parental stress and WFC was observed, which was stronger among parents of children with NDDs. Parental stress mediated the relation between the parental group and WFC. The findings highlight the vulnerability of parents of children with NDDs in both the work and family domains, emphasizing the need for targeted support and policy considerations to address their unique challenges in achieving less WFC.
Journal of autism and developmental disorders, 2025 · doi:10.1080/09687599.2019.1649637