Predicting well-being longitudinally for mothers rearing offspring with intellectual and developmental disabilities.

BACKGROUND: Well-being outcomes for parents of children with intellectual and developmental disabilities (IDD) may vary from positive to negative at different times and for different measures of well-being. Predicting and explaining this variability has been a major focus of family research for reasons that have both theoretical and applied implications. METHODS: The current study used data from a 23-year longitudinal investigation of adoptive and birth parents of children with IDD to determine which early child, mother and family characteristics would predict the variance in maternal outcomes 20 years after their original measurement. Using hierarchical regression analyses, we tested the predictive power of variables measured when children were 7 years old on outcomes of maternal well-being when children were 26 years old. Outcome variables included maternal self-report measures of depression and well-being. RESULTS: Final models of well-being accounted for 20% to 34% of variance. For most outcomes, Family Accord and/or the personality variable of Neuroticism (emotional stability/instability) were significant predictors, but some variables demonstrated a different pattern. CONCLUSIONS: These findings confirm that (1) characteristics of the child, mother and family during childhood can predict outcomes of maternal well-being 20 years later; and (2) different predictor-outcome relationships can vary substantially, highlighting the importance of using multiple measures to gain a more comprehensive understanding of maternal well-being. These results have implications for refining prognoses for parents and for tailoring service delivery to individual child, parent and family characteristics.

Coping strategy use, personality, and adjustment of parents rearing children with developmental disabilities.

BACKGROUND: Parents rearing children with developmental disabilities encounter stressors that require coping and adaptation. In Glidden et al. 2006, the use of problem-focused coping strategies was more often associated with positive adjustment outcomes than was the use of emotion-focused coping strategies, and parental personality was shown to influence outcomes, with Neuroticism, in particular, associated with lower well-being. METHOD: In the current study we aimed to replicate these results for adjustment outcomes measured 6 years later. Sixty-eight married couples parenting at least one child with developmental disabilities completed measures of depression and subjective well-being, and the Transition Daily Rewards and Worries Questionnaire, an inventory that assesses parental reaction to children transitioning into adulthood. RESULTS: For both mothers and fathers, combinations of personality factors and coping strategies were able to significantly predict outcome variables measured 6 years later. Personality, however, was a better predictor for mothers, whereas coping strategies predicted more variance for fathers. Distancing, especially, demonstrated mother-father differences. CONCLUSIONS: For the most part, the current results demonstrated that the relations among personality, coping and parental outcomes were consistent and stable over the 6-year interval. In addition, although we found some differences between mothers and fathers, there were also many similarities in the frequency of use of different coping strategies, and in the direction of influence of personality and coping strategy on outcome variables.

Personality, coping style and well-being of parents rearing children with developmental disabilities.

BACKGROUND: Parents with children with developmental disabilities (DD) encounter a variety of stressors associated with rearing their children and must develop effective coping mechanisms in order to adapt successfully to these challenges. Previous research has failed to establish the role of parental individual differences in the reported use of different coping strategies. The current study explores parental personality and whether children with DD were adopted or born into the families and their influence on the coping strategies used by mothers and fathers. METHODS: A total of 97 mother-father dyads rearing at least one child with DD were participants. They narrated stressful situations related to their child and completed the Ways of Coping Questionnaire twice. Data were also collected with regard to personality, depression and subjective well-being (SWB). RESULTS: Both adoptive and birth mothers and fathers used more problem-focused than emotion-focused strategies. Personality factors, Neuroticism especially, were predictive of coping strategy use. Higher levels of Positive Reappraisal were associated with higher levels of SWB, whereas higher levels of Escape-Avoidance were associated with lower levels of SWB, but only for mothers. Results were consistent with a dispositional model of strategy use in that frequency of use was associated with personality characteristics, was consistent over time, and for different children in the same families. Future research should focus on the persistence of the associations between strategy use and well-being and whether they hold true at different stages of the lifespan when coping contexts may change quite dramatically.

Depression: its trajectory and correlates in mothers rearing children with intellectual disability.

BACKGROUND: Rearing a child with an intellectual disability (ID) is a lifelong activity, and research needs to reflect the extended nature of the task as well as its complexity. The present longitudinal study reports on an 11-year follow-up of adoptive and birth families rearing children with ID. Its focus was on depressive symptoms and how these changed over time in a sample of 187 mothers. In particular, the authors were interested in whether initial differences in depression between adoptive mothers who knowingly and willingly decided to rear their children with disabilities, and birth mothers for whom the diagnosis of disability was unexpected and frequently crisis-inducing, would persist over time. METHODS: A longitudinal method with three times of measurement provided data which were analysed with analysis of variance and regression techniques. Moreover, several other individual and family adjustment measures were examined with respect to their correlations with depression and an outcome variable that measured subjective well-being with regard to the child. Furthermore, mothers were classified as typical or atypical for their adoptive/birth group based on their depression scores at the first time of measurement. The authors predicted that later depression would be different based on the earlier scores. RESULTS: Both adoptive and birth mothers reported low depression, not significantly different from each other, at the 11-year follow-up. The personality variable of neuroticism was the strongest predictor of depression for both adoptive and birth mothers, accounting for 24% and 23% of the variance, respectively, but it did not predict the mother's subjective well-being with regard to the child. Mothers classified as typical or atypical for their groups at initial measurement continued to report significantly different depression scores 11 years later. CONCLUSIONS: The low depression scores, not significantly different for birth and adoptive mothers, portray the long-term prognosis for adjustment to rearing children with disabilities as primarily positive. Moreover, the predictive value of neuroticism suggests that general mental health is an important component influencing this adjustment. Nevertheless, a different pattern for a different outcome variable suggests that multiple measures are necessary to portray accurately the complexity of reaction over time.

Twelve years later: adjustment in families who adopted children with developmental disabilities.

In most studies positive outcomes for families who have adopted children with developmental disabilities have been described. In this previous research, however, investigators have examined primarily short-term adjustment. In contrast, in the current longitudinal investigation 9 years after an initial interview, we assessed the adjustment and functioning of families who have adopted children with developmental disabilities. Results indicate that nearly 12 years after their adoptions, families remaining in the study reported generally positive outcomes and good adjustment to their adopted children. Whereas there were changes in these families, especially as the children approached adolescence and early adulthood, these changes were perceived as potential sources of reward as well as sources of stress.

More positive or less negative? Trends in research on adjustment of families rearing children with developmental disabilities.

We reviewed family adjustment research over a 20-year period to determine whether it reflected less negative and/or more positive conceptions of families rearing children with developmental disabilities. Two judges, unaware of the purpose of the study, independently rated 60 articles, 20 from each of 3 time periods: 1971-1975, 1983, and 1993. Results indicated that although negativity declined from the 1970s to 1983, there was no concomitant increase in positivity. In our conclusion we emphasize that the changes were real, but small, and that most investigators still write about family adjustment in a predominantly negative tone.

Disaggregating parental depression and family stress in assessing families of children with developmental disabilities: a multisample analysis.

The psychometric properties of a 5-item subcomponent (DEP5) of Factor 1, Parent and Family Problems, of the Friedrich Questionnaire on Resources and Stress were examined to determine whether these items formed a depression subcomponent of the larger family stress factor. Data were pooled from two samples numbering more than 450 respondents. Internal analyses established that the DEP5 had adequate internal reliability and stability over 2 years. Furthermore, confirmatory factor analyses indicated that the DEP5 measured depressive reactions as distinct from other parent and family problems. These results should be useful to researchers who want to reanalyze the Questionnaire on Resources and Stress data specifically for depressive reactions. Also, the technique for disaggregating global instruments can be applied to other variables.

Measuring religiousness of parents of children with developmental disabilities.

A 12-item scale of religiosity was related to content analyses of interviews with mothers of children with developmental disabilities. Results indicated that mothers who spontaneously mentioned religion in their interview rated themselves higher on the religiosity scale than did mothers who did not mention religion. Moreover, mothers who spoke more positively about religion received higher scores on the religiosity scale, as did their spouses. Content analyses of the narrative data indicated that what mothers said about religion was mostly positive and provided details of how religiousness influences coping with the rearing of a child who has developmental disabilities.

Influence of child diagnosis on family and parental functioning: Down syndrome versus other disabilities.

Although children with Down syndrome are popularly conceived of as having easy temperaments and agreeable personalities, conflicting reports exist as to whether they are easier to rear than are children with other developmental disabilities. To compensate for possibly biased samples in earlier studies, we employed three methodological strategies, including case-by-case matching of families raising children with Down syndrome and families raising children with other types of developmental disabilities. Results showed no differences between matched groups on various measures of functioning, a finding replicated with multiple regression techniques. However, in unmatched samples families of children with Down syndrome showed better functioning. Thus, previous research demonstrating better adjustment for families rearing children with Down syndrome should be re-examined for sampling biases.

Fathers helping out: shared child care and marital satisfaction of parents of children with disabilities.

The relation between division of child care and marital satisfaction in couples rearing children with disabilities was explored. Greater father participation in child care was related to higher marital satisfaction for both parents. Higher family income was also related to higher marital satisfaction for fathers only. Results were discussed in the framework of recent adaptations to Hill's (1949) ABCX Model of Family Adaptation.

What we do not know about families with children who have developmental disabilities: Questionnaire on Resources and Stress as a case study.

A selective review of studies using the Questionnaire on Resources and Stress (QRS) was presented in order to highlight current problems and future directions for research about families who are rearing children with developmental disabilities. Three primary difficulties--definitional problems, multiple measures of the same construct that do not converge, and failure to replicate--were high-lighted, and recommendations for approaches to solving them were provided. These approaches include the separation of demands, stresses, and strains, perhaps by a variation of the multitrait-multimethod technique, and more extensive norming and programmatic replication.

Longitudinal comparisons of families who have adopted children with mental retardation.

Families with adopted mentally retarded children were contacted 3 years after original study to assess longer term adjustment. Data from 80% of the original sample indicated continued good family adjustment on a number of measures, including the Holroyd Questionnaire on Resources and Stress. Only 2 of 44 children were no longer living with their adoptive/foster parents for reasons related to adjustment difficulties. In contrast, 12 of the families had adopted or were fostering additional children, 11 of whom had handicapping conditions. These data indicate a positive prognosis for adoption as a desirable option for the rearing of children with mental retardation.

Semantic processing and serial learning by EMR adolescents.

In a previous study we found that providing the semantic strategy of stories linking to-be-remembered items facilitated free-recall in original learning and in retention after 2 months (Glidden & Warner, 1983). The present study replicated the previous study but with a serial-recall requirement. A story linking items within blocks of a to-be-recalled list was provided for EMR subjects. In comparison to control subjects, they recalled more in the early trials of original learning, but retention after 8 months was comparable for the two conditions. Future investigators should focus on how to train retarded subjects to generate their own semantic strategies for serial learning.

Semantic processing can facilitate free recall in mildly retarded adolescents.

The efficacy of semantic processing in free recall was investigated in two experiments with EMR adolescents. In Experiment 1, they were taught to use one of two semantic strategies for memorizing a 15-word list. Compared with controls, neither strategy helped recall either in original learning or transfer. In Experiment 2, one of the semantic strategies, a story mnemonic, was investigated further. Rather than being taught to construct their own stories as in Experiment 1, subjects in Experiment 2 were provided with experimenter-composed stories. They showed better immediate recall and retention after 2 months than did no-strategy controls. However, about 1 year after original learning, the retention of experimental and control subjects no longer differed. Discussion focused on the story mnemonic's potential utility and the criteria for judging such potential, e.g., amount of facilitation, ease of training and performance of the strategy, and the degree of its generalizability.

Semantic processing and recall improvement of EMR adolescents.

Semantic processing, in the form of stories linking to-be-remembered words, was compared with cumulative rehearsal in a free-recall task. Educable mentally retarded adolescents were either taught to generate a story, provided with a story, taught to rehearse cumulatively, or assigned to no-strategy control groups. Semantic-processing subjects showed better recall at original learning and, to a lesser extent, at a 20-week retention test. Results were discussed with reference to the mechanism of recall improvement and the generalizability of semantic training to a diversity of tasks.

Research on imitation in mentally retarded persons: theory-bound or ecological validity run amuck?

Research on imitation in mentally retarded persons was examined to assess whether the bulk of the research had been aimed at theory confirmation and/or was ecologically valid. Sixty-seven studies, mostly published between 1975 and 1980, were reviewed within the framework of the Yando, Seitz, and Zigler (1978) two-factor developmental theory of imitation. It was concluded that most of the research on imitation in mentally retarded persons was not theoretical, but was ecologically valid. The failure of a dominant theoretical framework has led to a lack of systematic and programmatic effort, thus hampering the applied potential of modeling and imitation in the education and training of mentally retarded individuals.