Does Resilience Function As A Protective or Compensatory Factor for the Well-Being of Mothers of Children with Developmental Disabilities?

Introduction: Behaviour problems exhibited by children with intellectual and developmental disabilities (IDD) have been identified as a significant stressor for family members in both cross-sectional and more recently longitudinal research (Lecavalier et al., 2006; Zeedyk & Blacher, 2015). Despite the consistency of the relationship between child behaviour problems and maternal well-being in existing research, there is variability in mothers' responses to their child's behaviour problems. Not all mothers whose child has significant behaviour problems reports increased psychological distress or lower levels of well-being (Hill & Rose, 2009). In theoretical terms, this suggests that there are some factors that mediate or moderate the impact of child behaviour problems on mothers' well-being. One additional concept that has been used in IDD family research to explain some of the variation in maternal well-being is that of resilience. In the present study, we explored whether maternal resilience explains some of this variability and specifically whether resilience functions as a protective or compensatory factor. Methods: Participants were 312 mothers of children with intellectual and developmental disabilities (IDD) and aged between 4 and 15 years old (M= 10.02, SD =3.08). Mothers were asked to participate in a cross-sectional online survey.Measures included: Parent and Family problems subscale from the Questionnaire on Resources and Stress - short form (QRSF7, Griffith et al., 2011); The Positive Gain Scale (MacDonald et al., 2010, ; Pit-ten Cate, 2003); The Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale (Zigmond & Snaith, 1983); Family satisfaction was measured by the Family Satisfaction Scale (Olson & Wilson, 1982), The Brief Resilience Coping Scale (Sinclair and Wallston, 2004) is designed to assess an adult's ability to bounce back from stress. Results: Using moderated multiple regression models, we found consistent evidence that maternal resilience functioned as a compensatory factor - having a significant independent main effect relationship with maternal stress (R = .611, R2 = .374, F= 19.480, p =.004), anxiety (R=.502, R2 = .252, F= 10.590, p<.001), depression (R= .524, R2 = .275, F= 11.203, p<.001), perceptions of positive gain (R= .394, R2 = .155, F= 5.305, p<.001) and family satisfaction R=.535, R2 = .286, F= 12.645, p<.001). There was little evidence of the role of resilience as a protective factor between child behaviour problems and maternal well-being. Discussion: This study found that resilience as a moderator is significant only between child behavioural problems and maternal stress. In all five outcome models resilience is shown as a main compensatory effect and therefore showing the function of resilience may vary by outcome. However, it is more likely that resilience is clearly shown as having a consistent compensatory function between child behavioural problems and maternal outcomes. Building maternal resilience may result in improved overall well-being for mothers of children with IDD, and resilience over time should be explored in future research