Mental health risks of parents of children with developmental disabilities: A nationally representative study in the United States

Abstract

BackgroundCaring for a child with a developmental disability may affect parents’ mental health. There are few longitudinal or nationally representative studies, none on new mental health problems. Studies have few young children, and few adult children. Objective/hypothesesWe hypothesized that parents of children with developmental disability would be more likely to develop mental health problems than other parents. MethodsWe used the Panel Study of Income Dynamics (PSID, 1997–2017) and its Child Development Supplements, defining developmental disability by diagnoses such as autism spectrum disorder or intellectual disability, and requiring additional evidence of lasting impairment. We linked children’s and parents’ data spanning 20 years, including 44,264 mental health measurements for 4024 parents of 7030 children. Discrete-time hazard analysis controlled for child and parent characteristics. ResultsAbout 9.4% of children had developmental disability. Parents of children with developmental disability were more likely to develop mental health problems than other parents. The odds of developing anxiety or depression were higher when an adult child with developmental disability lived independently, nearly 3 times higher for mothers (OR 2.89, CI 2.33–3.59) and more than twice as large for fathers (OR 2.35, CI 1.70–3.26). Compared to fathers whose children did not have developmental disability and challenging behaviors, the odds of psychological distress were over 7 times larger (odds ratio, OR 7.18, 95% confidence interval, CI, 5.37–9.61) for those whose children had developmental disability and challenging behaviors. ConclusionsParents of children with developmental disability may benefit from increased emotional support, respite, and interventions addressing challenging behaviors.