Family-centered practices and the parental well-being of young children with disabilities and developmental delay

Abstract

BackgroundResearch evidence from studies in North America on the relationships between family-centered practices, parents’ self-efficacy beliefs, parenting confidence and competence beliefs, and parents’ psychological well-being was used to confirm or disconfirm the same relationships in two studies in Spain. AimsThe aim of Study 1 was to determine if results from studies in North America could be replicated in Spain and the aim of Study 2 was to determine if results from Study 1 could be replicated with a second sample of families in Spain. Methods and proceduresA survey including the study measures was used to obtain data needed to evaluate the relationships among the variables of interest. The participants were 105 family members in Study 1 and 310 family members in Study 2 recruited from nine early childhood intervention programs. Structural equation modeling was used to test the direct and indirect effects of the study variables on parents’ well-being. Outcomes and resultsResults showed that family-centered practices were directly related to both self-efficacy beliefs and parenting beliefs, and indirectly related to parents’ psychological well-being mediated by belief appraisals. Conclusion and implicationsThe pattern of results was similar to those reported in other studies of family-centered practices. Results indicated that the use of family-centered practices can have positive effects on parent well-being beyond that associated with different types of belief appraisals.