Family and parental functioning in parents of disabled children

Abstract

In accord with the Resiliency Model of Family Stress, Adjustment, and Adaptation and the Global Focus Model, this study investigated family functioning, parental stress, and parenting style. Four aspects (energy, focus of attention, experiential modality, and regulation) of parent–child interactions were analyzed. The aim of the research was to explore differences between differently aged parents (30–40 vs. 50–60 years) of a child with an intellectual disability and those with a nondisabled child. The participants were 32 couples with disabled children and 32 couples with nondisabled children. Participants were asked to fill out self-report questionnaires (Family Adaptability and Cohesion Evaluation Scale, Parenting Stress Index-Short Form, and Parents Preference Test), which were individually presented. The results showed differences in family functioning, parenting stress, and parenting style in the two types of families with differently aged parents. The results confirm the need to better examine family functioning in contexts in which each component inevitably dynamically contributes to ensure a proper fit and to reduce the vulnerability of the family system.