The Effect on Families with Special Needs Children
The effect on families with special needs children
The effect on families, who have special needs children, can have a negative impact, resulting in an increased level of anxiety, stress and depression (Schwartz and Tsumi, 2003). Family and parents will be used interchangeably.
There are a number of reasons attributed to the increase in stress levels for the parents: Firstly, and the most significant, is the realisation that there is no cure for autism and some learning disabilities (Rezendes and Scarpa 2011). Secondly, which is intimately tied with the first, is a lack of understanding regarding the child 's needs (Rezendes and Scarpa 2011). This may expose a discrepancy between the actual ability of the parent and what is required. Thirdly, the family, typically the mother, has a multidimensional role to play when the child has special needs (Rezendes and Scarpa 2011). For instance, the role can shift, not always sequentially, from parent to facilitator to carer. Knowing when to shift roles successfully comes through practise and can cause stress and anxiety on the parent (Rezendes and Scarpa 2011). Lastly, there is a direct correlation between heightened stress levels and the age of the parents (Rezendes and Scarpa 2011). This suggests the adaptive function of the parents reduces as they get older.
There are two elements that can act as predictive factors in identifying parental stress:
The relationship between the primary care giver and stress levels
The amount of stress experienced by the parent is directly proportionate to the amount of support that is delivered. (Weiss, Sullivan and Diamond, 2003) Mothers tend to show more stress than fathers, based on the research conducted, because the mothers had more contact with the child than the father (Pelchat, Lefebvere and Perreault 2003). This suggests that the primary care giver, within the family, will be experiencing higher stress levels than others.
The bi-directional
The effect on families, who have special needs children, can have a negative impact, resulting in an increased level of anxiety, stress and depression (Schwartz and Tsumi, 2003). Family and parents will be used interchangeably.
There are a number of reasons attributed to the increase in stress levels for the parents: Firstly, and the most significant, is the realisation that there is no cure for autism and some learning disabilities (Rezendes and Scarpa 2011). Secondly, which is intimately tied with the first, is a lack of understanding regarding the child 's needs (Rezendes and Scarpa 2011). This may expose a discrepancy between the actual ability of the parent and what is required. Thirdly, the family, typically the mother, has a multidimensional role to play when the child has special needs (Rezendes and Scarpa 2011). For instance, the role can shift, not always sequentially, from parent to facilitator to carer. Knowing when to shift roles successfully comes through practise and can cause stress and anxiety on the parent (Rezendes and Scarpa 2011). Lastly, there is a direct correlation between heightened stress levels and the age of the parents (Rezendes and Scarpa 2011). This suggests the adaptive function of the parents reduces as they get older.
There are two elements that can act as predictive factors in identifying parental stress:
The relationship between the primary care giver and stress levels
The amount of stress experienced by the parent is directly proportionate to the amount of support that is delivered. (Weiss, Sullivan and Diamond, 2003) Mothers tend to show more stress than fathers, based on the research conducted, because the mothers had more contact with the child than the father (Pelchat, Lefebvere and Perreault 2003). This suggests that the primary care giver, within the family, will be experiencing higher stress levels than others.
The bi-directional
References: David H. Olson, Circumplex Model of Marital and Family Systems, Journal of Family Therapy, Volume 22, Issue 2, pages 144-167, May 2000. Article first published online: 16 DEC 2002. Debra L. Rezendes and Angela Scarpa, Associations between Parental Anxiety/Depression and Child Behavior Problems Related to Autism Spectrum Disorders: The Roles of Parenting Stress and Parenting Self-Efficacy. Department of Psychology, Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University, USA, 2011. Mirjana Majdandžić, Wieke de Vente, and Susan Bögels. Bidirectional Associations Between Coparenting Relations and Family Member Anxiety: A Review and Conceptual Model,Clin Child Fam Psychol Rev. 2012 March; 15(1): 28–42.Published online 2011 November 29. Pelchat D ,Lefebvere H ,Perreault M .Differences and similarities between mothers’ and fathers’ experiences of parenting a child with a disability. J Child Health Care 2003; 7: 231-247. Schwartz C, Tsumi A. Parental involvement in the residential care of persons with intellectual disability: The impact of parents’ and residents’ characteristics and the process of relocation. Journal of Applied Intellectual Disabilities 2003; 16: 285-293. Mohamed G. Al-Kuwari, Psychological health of mothers caring for mentally disabled children in Qatar, Neurosciences 2007; Vol. 12 (4): 312-317 Weiss JA, Sullivan A, Diamond T. Parent stress adaptive functioning of individuals with developmental disabilities. Journal on Developmental Disabilities 2003; 10: 129-135