Partner-oriented projects: Attitude of parents having a child with an intellectual disability

Background: Parental stress and psychological distress are particularly prevalent among parents having a child with an intellectual disability. A satisfying marital relationship can act as a protection factor for psychological health. This study investigates partner-oriented projects of parents having a child with an intellectual disability. Method: Overall, 47 mothers and 37 fathers completed individually the Personal Projects Analysis Grid (Little, 1983) administered during a semi-structured interview. These latter were recorded and transcribed, and a thematic content analysis was performed by two independent coders, using emerging codes. Among parents, 17 mothers and 17 fathers retained, in their five most important projects, at least one partner-oriented project, which were submitted to a deeper analysis. Results: Commitment and dispositional optimism emerged as two central themes regarding the participants' assessment of their partner-oriented projects and served as two classification axes. The analysis highlighted four categories of parents' attitude regarding their partner-oriented projects: purposeful skeptic, nonchalant skeptic, purposeful optimist, nonchalant optimist. Conclusions: Parents' awareness of their attitude toward their projects could potentially help them to question their underlying motivations, discuss with their partner, and get involved in more intrinsic projects which can support their psychological health, and enhance the quality of their intimate relationship