Parenting Children with Developmental Delays: The Role of Positive Beliefs

Abstract

Parents of children with developmental delays consistently report higher levels of child behavior problems and also parenting stress than parents of typically developing children. This study examined how mothers' positive beliefs influence the relation between children's behavior problems and mothers' parenting stress among families of children who are developmentally delayed (DD: n = 72) or typically developing (TD: n = 95) and assessed at ages 3, 5, and 7 years. Positive beliefs had a main effect on parenting stress at all ages, which was mediated by child behavior problems for mothers in the DD group at every age and across time. In the TD group, mediation was found at age 3 years. Additionally, support was found for a moderation effect of positive beliefs on the relation between child behavior problems and parenting stress, but only in the DD group at age 3. These findings have implications for interventions drawing on Seligman's (1991) work on learned optimism, the positive counterpart of learned helplessness.

KEYWORDS:

• parenting
• self-mastery
• optimism
• developmental
• disabilities

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

This article is based on the activities of the Collaborative Family Study, supported by NICHD Grant 34879-1459 (Keith Crnic, Principle Investigator [PI], and Bruce Baker, Jan Blacher, and Craig Edelbrock, co-PIs). The Collaborative Family Study is conducted at three sites: Pennsylvania State University, State College, PA; the Fernald Child Study Center at the University of California Los Angeles, CA; and the Vernon Eady Center at the University of California, Riverside, CA. We are indebted to Jason Baker and Jan Blacher as well as to our other coworkers on the CFS in Southern California: Abbey Eisenhower, Rachel Fenning, Rebecca Fraynt, Cori Fujii, Araksia Kaladjian, Cameron Neece, and Heather Taylor.