Parenting stress in parents of children with attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder and parents of children with learning disabilities

Parenting a child with ADHD can challenge parenting resources and coping. Increasingly, researchers are examining the relationship between the behavior of the child with ADHD and family functioning. While studies have shown inceased parenting stress in parents of children with ADHD, these studies have compared children with ADHD to non-disabled children. This study compares reports of parenting stress among mothers of children with ADHD, mothers of children with learning disabilities and mothers of non-referred children. Results showed that parenting stress was highest for mothers of children with ADHD. Increased parenting stress was associated with child characteristics and, in particular, with externalizing behavior problems.     

Effects of day care and maternal teaching on child educability

Two groups of matched mother-child pairs, a day care sample (N = 38) and a home reared sample (N = 38) participated in a study testing mothers for degree of decentred teaching and children for degree of decentred educability. The children were seven years old. Mother and child were tested in separate settings, thus preventing interdependency among scores. The study used a matched-pair design with control of five background variables; age of the child, mother's educational level, mother's occupational status, family SES level, and type of family. The results showed strong positive effects of both day care experience and maternal teaching on child educability. Day care experience improved the educability of children independent of the mother's teaching strategy and gender of the child.     

Association of depression in mothers of disabled children with the child's participation in integrated education

To measure depression in mothers of 5 to 7-yr.-old children with disabilities and to find out whether mothers' depression varied by sex of the child, 126 mothers from Ankara participated; 59 were mothers of children with disabilities who participated in integrated education and attended preschool classes in public schools and, as a comparison group, 67 were mothers of children with disabilities of similar age and characteristics who did not participate in integrated education while attending public and private schools. In the study, the Beck Depression Scale and General Information Forms were used. Depression in mothers of children with disabilities who did not participate in integrated education was higher than in mothers of children with disabilities who participated in integrated education.     

Communication deviances: a comparison between parents of learning-disabled and normally achieving students

This study explored the relationship between parents' communication deviances and children's placement in a learning disability class. Participants were the parents of 30 learning-disabled students and 30 average students attending junior high school. Samples of communication were taken from parents' participation in an experimental task. Using a "blind" sorting procedure, raters were able to identify 87% of the learning-disabled students' parents by their high communication deviance scores and 77% of the average students' parents by their low communication deviance scores on the experimental communication task (p less than or equal to .0001). Implications for future research on the etiology and remediation of learning disabilities are discussed.     

Home literacy experiences and socio-cultural characteristics associated with the subtypes of reading disability

This study was designed to analyse the home literacy experiences and socio-cultural characteristics associated with the subtypes of reading disability. For this purpose, we used a reading level match design and we selected four samples of families as a function of their children's reading profile: a group of parents (15 fathers and 16 mothers) whose children had a profile of surface dyslexia (DSP); a second group of parents (6 fathers and 6 mothers) whose children had a profile of phonological dyslexia (DFP); a third group of parents (38 fathers and 41 mothers) whose children were matched in age with the children who had learning disabilities (ECP); and a fourth group of parents (33 fathers and 35 mothers) whose children were matched in reading age with children who had learning disabilities (NLP). Both dyslexic subtypes showed a deficit in phonological awareness, but children with surface dyslexia also showed a deficit in orthographical processing assessed by homophone comprehension task. This deficit was related to home literacy experiences because the group of parents whose children had surface dyslexia, in comparison to parents of children matched in reading age, promoted fewer home literacy experiences.     

Affective exchanges between young autistic children and their mothers

This study examined autistic children's social behavior, affect, and use of gaze during naturalistic interactions with their mothers. Sixteen autistic children, 30 to 70 months of age, and 16 normal children, matched on receptive language, participated. Children and their mothers were videotaped during three situations: a free-play period, a more structured period during which communicative demand was made on the child, and a face-to-face interaction. In all three situations, autistic and normal children did not differ in the frequency or duration of gaze at mother's face. In the one condition (face-to-face interaction) during which affective expressions were coded, autistic and normal children also were not found to differ significantly in the frequency or duration of smiles displayed, and neither group displayed frowns. However, autistic children were much less likely than normal children to combine their smiles with eye contact in a single act that conveyed communicative intent. Autistic and normal children were not found to differ in the percentages of smiles they displayed to social versus nonsocial events. However, when autistic children's responses to mother's smiles specifically were examined, it was found that they were much less likely to smile in response to mother's smiles than were normal children. Finally, it was found that mothers o f autistic children displayed fewer smiles and were less likely to smile in response to their children's smiles, when compared with mothers o f normal children. These findings suggest that the autistic child's unusual affective behavior may negatively affect the behavior of others.We wish to thank the children and their mothers who participated in this study, and the staff at Division TEACCH at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill for their help in recruiting children for the study. Harriet Reingold generously allowed us to videotape the children in her infant observation laboratory at the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill. Cathy Lord provided videotapes of some of the autistic children and their mothers. Mary Evers assisted in data collection. Kerry Hogan assisted in the coding of data; her help is gratefully acknowledged. The study was supported by a grant from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.     

Optimism,appraisals, and coping in the adjustment of mothers and their children with spina bifida

Families of children with physical disabilities show substantial differences in the levels of adjustment of both the children and their parents. These differences result, in part, from the complex interplay of family and child adaptation resources, such as coping and social support. In order to identify factors which may differentiate levels of adjustment among families with children with physical disabilities, this study examined relationships among optimism, primary and secondary appraisals of and coping with child-related stressors, maternal psychological adjustment, and child adjustment in 29 families with a child with spina bifida without mental retardation and 28 comparison families with a nondisabled child. For the spina bifida group, primary appraisals were related to the use of avoidant coping strategies, and these coping strategies were related to maternal psychological adjustment and child internalizing behavior problems. No significant differences between the groups in terms of the nature of the relationships or in the levels of the variables were found with the exception that mothers of children with spina bifida were less optimistic than comparison mothers. These data support the importance of coping in understanding the psychological adjustment of mothers faced with a chronic stressor in the family.     

College Mothers' Academic Achievement Goals as Related to their Children's Attitudes Toward Learning

The present study considers the relationship between college mothers' academic achievement goals (both learning and performance) and the mothers' attitudes toward their children's schoolwork as well as the relationship between each of these sets of characteristics in mothers and their elementary-school-age children's attitudes about learning. Results indicate that a mother's adoption of learning goals in her college education is positively related to the endorsement of a process/indirect focus with respect to assisting and evaluating her child on academic tasks and is associated with more personal satisfaction with providing homework assistance and greater optimism concerning the benefits of such assistance. Results also suggest that college mothers with more of a learning goal orientation and/or more of a process/indirect focus have children who display a similar concern with learning and a positive attitude about homework. Mothers who adopted more of a person/product focus with respect to their child's schoolwork had children who were less likely to interpret homework and other school tasks as opportunities to learn.     

Impact of diagnosed depression and self-reported mood on mothers' control strategies: a longitudinal study

Control strategies of 70 well and depressed mothers were assessed twice: when their children were of toddler age (Time 1) and, for 39 of the mothers, when their children were 5 (Time 2). At Time 1 well mothers were more direct with their children, using more direct commands and reprimands, and fewer explanations than depressed mothers. At Time 2 well mothers used fewer direct commands than depressed mothers. Self-reported negative mood preceding the interaction in well mothers was associated with decreased directness at Time 1 but increased directness at Time 2. At Time 1 depressed mothers' negative mood was associated with a decrease in the use of explanations. All mothers used more unclear commands and fewer reprimands and positive incentives with their 5-year-olds than when the children were toddlers. Depressed mothers, but not well mothers, increased their use of direct commands when the children were older. The findings are interpreted in the context of complex interplay between mother's diagnosis of depression, self-reported mood preceding the interaction, and the developmental level of the child.     

Defence strategies and anxiety in mothers of disabled children

The aim of this investigation was to study anxiety and defence strategies in mothers of children with different disabilities. Mothers of children with childhood psychosis, motor handicaps, or Down's syndrome were tested with a projective, percept-genetic technique, viz. the Mother-Child Picture Test (MCPT). Levels of anxiety were measured with the Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale (HAD). In mothers of psychotic children, the absence of anxiety was significantly associated with misinterpretations and/or failure to recognize the MCPT motif (a close relation between mother and child). This association was not found in the mothers of motor-handicapped children or children with Down's syndrome. The results suggest that, for mothers of psychotic children, the activation of defensive strategies is important to avoid feelings of anxiety evoked by the mother-child situation. For mothers of children with other chronic disabilities, for example, motor handicaps or Down's syndrome, low levels of anxiety may be experienced without the mobilization of strong defensive mechanisms. Different interpretations of the correlation between defence strategies and anxiety in the mothers of psychotic children are discussed.     

Stress in Mothers with Intellectual Disabilities

Both low parental IQ and stress have been shown to be associated with parenting difficulties and adverse child outcomes. We examined stress in parents with low IQ as a potential contributor to their documented parenting problems. Eighty-two mothers with intellectual disabilities (IQ < 80; labelled as having mental retardation) were given the Parenting Stress Index and they were found to be enduring very high levels of overall stress (95th percentile), stress related to child characteristics (95th percentile), and stress related to other life experiences (90th percentile) as compared to the normative test group. We divided the 82 mothers with intellectual disabilities into three groups depending on the age of their children. The mothers with school-age children reported significantly higher stress than parents of infant/toddler and preschool children. A hierarchical regression analysis revealed that child age and living in a crowded environment were significant predictors of parenting stress. The results confirm that mothers with intellectual disabilities experience extreme stress that, together with other factors, may hinder adequate parenting.     

Enmeshed lives: adult children with developmental disabilities and their aging mothers

This article uses equity theory to examine the ways in which aging mothers and their adult children with developmental disabilities support each other and the effects that this exchange has on the caregiving satisfaction and burden of the mothers. Data from 305 mothers revealed that exchange flows both from mother to child and from child to mother. Results indicate that caregiving satisfaction increased when affection from child to mother was greater. Caregiving burden was not affected by either functional support or affection from child to mother.     

Deafness and mother–child interaction: Scaffolded instruction and the learning of problem-solving skills

This study examines the effects of maternal teaching style on the developing problem-solving abilities of deaf and hearing pre-school children. Mothers and children from three matched groups, hearing mother-deaf child, hearing mother-hearing child, and deaf mother-deaf child, were videotaped while the mother instructed the child on a block construction task and again when the child attempted the task independently. Dependent measures were maternal instructional style and child performance. The mothers in the deaf mother-deaf child and hearing mother-hearing child dyads used appropriate scaffolding behaviour and their children were more likely to exhibit adept and independent problem-solving abilities than the deaf children of hearing mothers. The findings of this study support Vygotsky's notion of the ‘zone of proximal development’ and the concept of adult scaffolding of children's learning.     

Impact of Perceived Social Support and Depression on the Parental Attitudes of Mothers of Children Who are Deaf

Literature shows that mothers of children with disabilities report high levels of depression. Social support facilitates the well-being of mothers and it helps to cope with a range of disability related stressors. This study was designed to assess the impact of having a child who is deaf on maternal depression and to test how social support may facilitate coping with the depression caused by deafness as well as the parenting behaviors of those mothers. 103 mothers of children who are deaf, ranging from the 36 months to 72 months of age participated in the study. Parental attitude research instrument, beck depression inventory and multidimensional scale of perceived social support were used for data collection. Results showed that 24.4 % of the mothers showed depression and perceived social support from family and friends were found to be predicting depression. Further analysis showed that depression was found to be affecting authoritarian and hostile parenting styles. Perceived social support from friends and significant other did not have significant effect on parental attitudes. The findings showed that having a child who is deaf causes high levels of depression in mothers which leads to insufficient and/or inappropriate parenting attitudes. On the other hand, social support is a protective source lowering depression levels of mothers as well as indirectly facilitating the maintenance of positive parenting.     

Siblings of Children with disabilities: Psychological and behavioural characteristics

The purpose of the current study was to assess the behavioural and psychological characteristics of siblings of children with disabilities and the perceptions of parents and children regarding sibling relationships. Participants included 32 children between 6 and 13 years of age, one-half with a younger sibling with a disability and one-half with a younger sibling without a disability. Analyses revealed a difference in children's perceptions of maternal partiality, with siblings of children with disabilities perceiving their mothers to be more partial to their siblings than did siblings of children without disabilities. Further, parents of children with disabilities indicated a greater difference in status/power between their child and his/her younger sibling than did parents of children without disabilities. No significant differences were found between groups on measures of behaviour problems, social competence, or self-esteem, supporting other research that has failed to find negative outcomes for siblings of children with disabilities. The implications of these results for parents and professionals are discussed.     

婴儿期母亲将心比心对儿童5岁共情的预测:母亲陪伴总时间的调节作用

使用追踪设计，以68对母婴为被试，探讨母亲养育质量、陪伴时间影响儿童共情发展的机制。在婴儿期（9、14个月）评估母亲将心比心并调查母亲每周陪伴婴儿的总时间与母亲参与的互动时间；在儿童5岁时，采用“陌生人假装受伤情境”范式测查儿童共情。结果发现：（1）婴儿期母亲恰当的心理相关评论能够正向预测5岁时儿童的行为共情，而对情绪共情与认知共情的预测则受到婴儿期母亲陪伴总时间的调节：母亲恰当的心理相关评论能够显著正向预测陪伴总时间短的儿童的情绪共情与母亲陪伴总时间长的儿童的认知共情；（2）婴儿期母亲不协同的心理相关评论能够显著正向预测儿童5岁时的认知共情；（3）婴儿期母亲陪伴总时间能够显著正向预测5岁时儿童的情绪共情。     

Mom,you're only remembering the bad behavior! the utility of distributed lag models in single-subject research

The present study examined if prior events/behaviors accounted for variance in parental perceptions of child behavior beyond that accounted for by those events/behaviors occurring simultaneously with the assessment of the parental perception. By utilizing a time-series analysis, this study investigated the relative effects of positive and negative child behaviors, interparental behavior, and intrapersonal behavior/events occurring simultaneously or at an earlier point in time on a mother's daily satisfaction with her clinic-referred child. Using a single-subject methodology with replication, nine mothers served as subjects. Data were collected across 30 days for participants, and subsequently, each mother's data were analyzed by multiple regression techniques. The results indicate the usefulness of distributed lag models for single-case designs in the absence of autocorrelation. Analyses indicate that for some mothers what happens on prior days with her child is as important or more important in determining her satisfaction with the child than what happens on the current day. In particular, mothers tend to carry over previous days' negative child behaviors into the present day's satisfaction rating. Previous days' positive and negative spouse behaviors and daily activities did not consistently contribute to regression equations predicting mothers' daily satisfaction ratings with their children.This research was supported in part by the University of Georgia's Institute for Behavioral Research.Data for this study were collected as part of a project designed to examine correlates of maternal satisfaction with their children. The primary results of the project have been reported by Furey and Forehand (in press). While the method in this study is basically similar to the Furey and Forehand (in press) method, the questions posed in the two studies differed.     

TEACHING CHILD-CARE SKILLS TO MOTHERS WITH DEVELOPMENTAL DISABILITIES

The present study identified and remediated child-care skill deficits in parents with developmental disabilities to reduce their risk of child neglect. Eleven mothers with developmental disabilities who were considered by social service and child welfare agencies to be providing neglectful child care were found in baseline to have several important child-care skill deficits (e.g., bathing, diaper rash treatment, cleaning baby bottles) compared to nonhandicapped mothers. Parent training (consisting of verbal instructions, pictorial manuals, modeling, feedback, and reinforcement) resulted in rapid acquisition and maintenance of child-care skills in all mothers. Mean percentage correct scores increased from 58% in baseline to 90% in training and 91% in follow-up (M = 31 weeks). The latter two scores compare favorably to the mean score (87%) of 20 nonhandicapped mothers on the same skills. Where observable, parent training was associated with corresponding benefits to the children (e.g., elimination of diaper rash and cradle cap, increased weight gain, successful toilet training). These results indicate that parent training may be a viable option to the removal of the child from the home when parenting skill deficits place the child's well-being in jeopardy.     

Mother and Child Perceptions of Child Functioning: Relationship to Maternal Distress

The relationship between maternal distress and mother's reports of psychosocial problems in their children has been well-documented. However, relatively little research has investigated the relationship between maternal and family distress and young children's perception of their own functioning. Using a brief questionnaire designed for use with children, data were collected from 166 mothers and their children aged 5-12 years. Children provided information about their own daily functioning, and mothers provided information about their own, their child's, and their family's psychosocial functioning. Findings indicated that while children generally agreed with the reports of their mothers, children of distressed mothers self-reported better daily functioning than their mothers did. Distressed mothers tended globally to report negatively about themselves, their child, and their family. The present findings suggest that when assessing mothers or children, the reports of children should be considered as well as the reports of mothers.