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Maternal parenting stress and its correlates in families with a young child with cerebral palsy
Author(s) -
Glenn S.,
Cunningham C.,
Poole H.,
Reeves D.,
Weindling M.
Publication year - 2009
Publication title -
child: care, health and development
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.832
H-Index - 82
eISSN - 1365-2214
pISSN - 0305-1862
DOI - 10.1111/j.1365-2214.2008.00891.x
Subject(s) - psychology , cerebral palsy , coping (psychology) , feeling , spouse , developmental psychology , locus of control , clinical psychology , psychiatry , social psychology , sociology , anthropology
Objective To investigate factors predicting parenting stress in mothers of pre‐school children with cerebral palsy. Method Eighty mothers and children participated. Mothers completed the Parenting Stress Index (PSI) and the following measures of family functioning: family support, family cohesion and adaptability, coping strategies, family needs and locus of control. Children were assessed using the Griffiths Scales and the Gross Motor Function measure. The child's home environment was assessed using Home Observation for Measuring the Environment. Results Mothers had higher mean total PSI scores than the means for the typical sample; 43% had total PSI scores above the threshold for clinical assessment. Cluster analysis demonstrated five distinct clusters of families, more than half of whom were coping well. High stress items were role restriction, isolation and poor spouse support, and having a child who was perceived as less adaptable and more demanding. Lower stress items indicated that this sample of mothers found their children emotionally reinforcing and had close emotional bonds. Regression analysis showed that the factors most strongly related to parenting stress levels were high family needs, low family adaptability and cognitive impairment in the child. Conclusions The results confirmed the individuality of families, and that individual characteristics of coping and feeling in control, together with family support and cohesion, are associated with variation in amount of stress experienced in parenting a child with cerebral palsy.