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Predictors of care‐giver stress in families of preschool‐aged children with developmental disabilities
Author(s) -
Plant K. M.,
Sanders M. R.
Publication year - 2007
Publication title -
journal of intellectual disability research
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.941
H-Index - 104
eISSN - 1365-2788
pISSN - 0964-2633
DOI - 10.1111/j.1365-2788.2006.00829.x
Subject(s) - psychology , developmental psychology , cognition , stress (linguistics) , clinical psychology , psychiatry , linguistics , philosophy
Background This study examined the predictors, mediators and moderators of parent stress in families of preschool‐aged children with developmental disability. Method One hundred and five mothers of preschool‐aged children with developmental disability completed assessment measures addressing the key variables. Results Analyses demonstrated that the difficulty parents experienced in completing specific care‐ giving tasks, behaviour problems during these care‐giving tasks, and level of child disability, respectively, were significant predictors of level of parent stress. In addition, parents’ cognitive appraisal of care‐giving responsibilities had a mediating effect on the relationship between the child’s level of disability and parent stress. Mothers’ level of social support had a moderating effect on the relationship between key independent variables and level of parent stress. Conclusions Difficulty of care‐giving tasks, difficult child behaviour during care‐giving tasks, and level of child disability are the primary factors which contribute to parent stress. Implications of these findings for future research and clinical practice are outlined.