PMID: 11775036

Issn Print: 0342-5282

Publication Date: 2001/12/01


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Parental stress, marital satisfaction and responsiveness to children: A comparison between mothers of children with and without inborn impairment

A. RIMMERMAN; V. STANGER

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Author Information: University of Haifa, Israel

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The birth of a child with chronic illness or disability has a major impact on the family as a whole and on the mother in particular (Phillips, 1991). Most of the research and clinical reports in this area have focused on parental reaction to the crisis and the possible consequences for the entire family unit. In many cases the child's chronic illness or disability has an impact on marital life (Walker et al., 1992; Gibson, 1995; Davis et al., 1998). According to Featherston (1980), parents of children with disabilities or chronic illness have an 8 to 1 ratio of divorce as compared to parents of healthy children. In this context, Broom (1994) found a significant relationship between marital satisfaction and the providing of appropriate care for the sick child. Heckel and Ruble (1992) suggest that unrealistic parental expectations about the child's development could be responsible for the change in quality of marriage. However, Kazak and Marvin (1984) cast doubt on whether the stress related to a child's disability has a direct impact on the couple's quality of marriage. They report that there are cases where the child's serious medical condition had a positive effect and contributed to greater harmony and a sense of mutual affection between the partners.
Mothers are perceived as the core caregivers for their young children. As Caldwell (1970) assumes in the Home Observation for Measurement of the Environment, parenting is the ability to provide a child with a growing physical and emotional environment. In the case of a child with disability or chronic illness, there is a debate in the literature as to whether the mother will be more or less responsive to the child. Capuzzi (1989) and Meisles and Shonkoff (1990) have identified passivity and discouraging behavior on the part of these mothers, who feared that extra stimulation or demands would be harmful to their children. Likewise, Coffman et al. (1995) specified that the limited satisfaction that the mother receives from her disabled child and the need to be cautious in protecting his/her health condition. On the other hand, Austin (1991) identified a tendency among these mothers to spend extra time with their children.
Based on the literature review, the present study examined the hypothesis that mothers of children with inborn disability would demonstrate higher maternal stress and lower marital satisfaction than mothers of ‘healthy’ children. In addition, we examined differences in the two groups in respect to responsiveness to the child, expecting that mothers of children with inborn disability would show less responsiveness to the child than mothers of ‘healthy’ children.
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