Maternal perceptions of support from professionals and daily care-giving burden as determinants of distress in mothers of children with developmental disabilities.

This study investigated whether the current movement toward family-centred health care service delivery effectively addresses the distress associated with the daily care-giving burden experienced by mothers of children with developmental disabilities. Participants were 37 mothers of children with developmental disabilities who are limited in their ability to perform daily activities independently. Participants were contacted by mail through the Children\u27s Rehabilitation Centre (CRC). Participants provided demographic information and completed self-report questionnaires measuring maternal distress (i.e., Malaise Inventory, Mental Health Inventory) and perceptions of parent-professional interactions (i.e., Enabling Practices Scale). The Vineland Adaptive Behavior Scales, Classroom Edition was completed by teachers or primary therapists to assess child functional status. Restricted range in the obtained measures obscured the expected association between child functional status and both maternal distress and perceptions of parent-professional interactions. Trends in the results indicated that greater functional impairment was associated with greater stress in parent-child relationships and more stressful life circumstances (p \u3c .05); however, psychological symptoms of distress were less for mothers of severely impaired children, than for mothers of moderately impaired children. Implications for research and practice are discussed.Dept. of Psychology. Paper copy at Leddy Library: Theses & Major Papers - Basement, West Bldg. / Call Number: Thesis1998 .F74. Source: Masters Abstracts International, Volume: 39-02, page: 0594. Adviser: Sylvia Voelker. Thesis (M.A.)--University of Windsor (Canada), 1998