Parents attributions of blame for the birth of a child with down syndrome: A pilot study

Abstract

Attributing blame to others for negative events is consistently associated with poor adjustment. We report here a study assessing whether failure to detect a problem on screening, in this case Down syndrome not detected during prenatal screening, is associated with blame and poor adjustment in parents. Twenty eight mothers and 23 fathers of children with Down syndrome were interviewed. Although no parent blamed themselves or their partner, eight fathers and five mothers blamed health professionals or the health care system in general for not preventing the birth of their children with Down syndrome prenatally. None of the parents who declined testing were blaming. Six of the 11 parents who received a negative test and seven of the 34 not offered a test blamed others. Both mothers and fathers who blamed others reported significantly higher parenting stress. Mothers, but not fathers, who blamed others were significantly more angry and depressed than those who did not.