Parent Versus Child Stress in Diverse Family Types

Abstract

Differences in level of overall stress and the proportion of child- versus parent-related stress among several different family types were investigated. An ecological framework was used to delineate the predictors of stress for the different family types. Participants were 29 single-parent families, 35 two-parent families, 17 families of children with Down syndrome, 16 families of children with hearing impairment, and 29 families of children with developmental delay. The results indicate that family stress and ecological variables predictive of family stress varied among these families. Intervention and therapy efforts may be improved by understanding the locus of stressors among these family types.