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PARENTING STRESS: A COMPARISON OF MOTHERS AND FATHERS OF DISABLED AND NON-DISABLED CHILDREN Alexis Philbin Walker, B. Dissertation Prepared for the Degree of DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY UNIVERSITY OF NORTH TEXAS December 2000 APPROVED: David B. Baker, Major Professor Kenneth Sewell, Committee Member Donna Fleming, Committee Member Vincent Ramos, Committee Member Ernest Harrell, Chair of the Department of Psychology C. Neal Tate, Dean of the Robert B.

Toulouse School of Graduate Studies Walker, Alexis Philbin, Parenting Stress: A comparison of mothers and fathers of Disabled and Non-Disabled children. Doctor of Philosophy (Clinical Psychology), December 2000, 168 pp., 27 tables, 76 reference titles. This study compared perceived levels of parenting stress between mothers and fathers of children with Attention-Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD), children with developmental disabilities, and normally developing children. The relationship of certain demographic variables, such as Socio-economic Status (SES), number of children, years married, parent age, and child age, as well as social support with parenting stress was also examined for mothers and fathers of these three groups.

Identification of factors related to parenting stress in fathers was of particular importance for this study, as fathers are often an underrepresented group within parenting research. Identifying effective methods for predicting high levels of parenting stress is important, as stress has been linked to psychological well-being, potential for abuse, and a greater likelihood of poor adjustment for both parent and child. Results from the present study comparing reported stress levels between groups of parents were supportive of previous studies indicating that parents of children with ADHD and developmentally disabilities experience significantly greater parenting stress, specifically with respect to child characteristics. Significant gender differences were also found between mothers and fathers in terms of parent characteristics related to stress.

Fathers reported greater stress in the areas of attachment, while mothers reported more parent role restrictions. Additionally, significant negative relationships were found between parents’ perceived helpfulness of informal social support and parenting stress scores in both mothers and fathers, affirming positive effects of social support on stress. Helpfulness of informal social support was also significantly predictive of parenting stress in both mothers and fathers across both the child and parent domains of the PSI, although, it had more predictive power with regard to parent related contributors to parenting stress. Family demographic factors, including age of the child and SES demonstrated some predictive power of parenting stress in mothers.

Mothers with younger children and lower SES were more likely to report greater parenting stress. Implications of these results and future directions for research are also discussed. Copyright 2000 By Alexis Philbin Walker ii ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS I would like to offer my sincerest appreciation to several people who made important contributions toward the completion of this project. I would especially like to thank my mother and father, Paul and Sandra Philbin to whom I am indebted for all their support and caring.

I would like to extend thanks to my husband, Bill, who helped keep me focused and enthusiastic throughout this process. Also, Bill and Judy, thanks so much for your time and help in gathering many of the crucial resources for this endeavor. In addition to family members, I would like to thank Dr. Steven Bailley for his persistent encouragement, unfaltering guidance, and life’s important little instructions.

Most importantly, I would like to thank Dr. Bailley for his unselfishness and willingness to take significant time out to support a colleague. Karen, thanks for listening and offering wonderful insight and a healthy perspective. Finally, I would also like to thank my major professor, Dave Baker, for his support, direction, and pragmatic sense, as well as my other committee members, who helped facilitate this process and make this a positive experience.

iii TABLE OF CONTENTS Page ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS …………………………………………………… iii LIST OF TABLES……………………………………………………………… v Chapter 1. INTRODUCTION AND LITERATURE REVIEW……………………… 1 General Overview The Concept of Stress The Concept of Parenting Stress Parenting Stress and its Influence on Family Functioning Parenting Stress and Child Disability Parenting Stress in Families of Children with Disabilities Parenting Stress and ADHD Parenting Stress and Developmental Disabilities Parenting Stress and Normal Child Development Parenting Stress and Parent Gender Reasons to Include Fathers in Parenting Research Fathers’ Role in Society Fathers’ Unique Functioning in the Parenting Dyad Parenting Stress and Fathers Parenting Stress Comparisons Between Mothers and Fathers Other Factors Associated with Parenting Stress Parenting Stress and Social Support Parenting Stress and Demographic Factors Parenting Role Identity Summary and Conclusions Statement of Rationale Research Questions and Related Hypotheses 2. METHOD……………………………………………………………………… 37 Participants Measures Procedure Overview of Data Analysis Preliminary Analyses Primary Analyses iv 3. RESULTS………………………………………………………………………52 Preliminary Data Screening Accuracy of Data Input, Missing Data and Distributions Replacing Missing Data: Standardized Measures Replacing Missing Data: Variables from non-standardized measures (CPSS, PRQ, (FIF) Skewness and Kurtosis Outliers Preliminary Analyses Primary Analyses Research Question 1 Research Question 2 Research Question 3 Research Question 4 Research Question 5 4.

DISCUSSION……………………………………………………………… 68 Summary of Findings Theoretical Implications Applied Implications Social Policy Implications Limitations of this Study Measurement Issues and Research Implications Future Directions APPENDICES…………………………………………………………………… 95 Appendix A: Instruments ……………………………………………………….95 Appendix B: Consent Forms ………………………………………………… 107 Appendix C: Flyers/Parent Letters …………………………………………… 112 Appendix D: Tables ……………………………………………………………117 REFERENCE LIST……………………………………………………………. 161 v LIST OF TABLES Table Page 1. Frequency Distribution of Geographic Location of families……………………. Frequency Distributions for Children with ADHD………………… ………… 119 3.

Frequency Distributions for Children with Developmental Disabilities… ……. Frequency Distributions for Normally Developing Control children……………125 5. Descriptive Statistics for DSM-IV Checklist and CBCL Scales… …………. Frequency Distributions of Family Demographic Variables by Group ……….

Skewness and Kurtosis Scores for Parents of ADHD Children on Dependent Variables (PSI) and Independent Variables (CPSS, Demographics) Before and After Transformations…………………………………………………………. Skewness and Kurtosis Scores for Parents Children with Developmental Disabilities on Dependent Variables (PSI) and Independent Variables (CPSS, Demographics) Before and After Transformations………………………………………………131 9. Skewness and Kurtosis Scores for Parents of Non-Disabled Control Children on Dependent Variables (PSI) and Independent Variables (CPSS, Demographics) Before and After Transformations…………………………………… ………. Skewness and Kurtosis Scores for Total Sample of Parents (ADHD, DD, and ND Control) on Dependent Variables (PSI) and Independent Variables (CPSS, Demographics) Before and After Transformations…………………….

Group Comparisons of Continuous Demographic Variables. Group Comparisons of Categorical Demographic Variables……………. PSI Domain Scores (Means, Standard Deviations, and F Ratios) by Disability Group and Gender of Parent………………………………. PSI Child Domain Subscale scores (Means, Standard Deviations, and F Ratios) by Disability Group and Gender of Parent………………….

PSI Parent Domain Subscale scores (Means, Standard Deviations, F Ratios) by Disability Group and Gender of Parent…………………………………………142 16. Correlations Between Independent Variables and Parenting Stress Scores for Mothers and Fathers……………………………………………………………… 144 17. Social Support Scores by Disability Group and Parent Gender…………………. Summary of Hierarchical Multiple Regression Predicting Mothers’ PSI Child Domain Scores from Diagnostic Category, Demographic Variables, and Perceived Helpfulness of Social Support ………………………………………….

Summary of Hierarchical Multiple Regression Predicting Mothers’ PSI Parent Domain Scores from Diagnostic Category, Demographic Variables, and Perceived Helpfulness of Social Support…………………………………………………… 148 20. Summary of Hierarchical Multiple Regression Predicting Fathers’ PSI Child Domain Scores from Diagnostic Category, Demographic Variables, and Perceived Helpfulness of Social Support………………………………………149 21. Summary of Hierarchical Multiple Regression Predicting Fathers’ PSI Parent Domain Scores from Diagnostic Category, Demographic Variables, and Perceived Helpfulness of Social Support……………………………………………150 22. Descriptive Statistics for Mothers’ Parental Role Items for Each Age Group……151 23.

Descriptive Statistics for Fathers’ Parental Role Items for Each Age Group……. Descriptive Statistics for Mothers’ and Fathers’ View of Overall Importance of Parental Role Characteristics…………………………………………………. Comparison of Mothers and Fathers across Groups on PRQ……………………. Frequency Distribution of Responses to Importance of Parental Role Characteristics for Mothers by Group…………………………………………… 157 27.

Frequency Distribution of Responses to Importance of Parental Role Characteristics for Fathers by Group …………………………………………… 159 vii CHAPTER I INTRODUCTION AND LITERATURE REVIEW “Becoming a parent is one of the most significant family life cycle transitions.” (Pittman, Wright, & Lloyd, 1989, p. 267) “Parenting any child can at times be a stressful experience.” (Cameron, Dobson, & Day, 1991, p. 14) General Overview The purpose of this study was to investigate several factors reported to be related to or predictive of parenting stress. Such factors included aspects of the child’s functioning and/or presence of a disability, gender of the parent, characteristics of the family (i.

Socio-economic Status (SES), number of children, years married, age of the parents and age of the child), as well as aspects of the parents’ social support network. This study investigated the relationship of such variables to parent stress reports of mothers and fathers of children with ADHD, developmental disabilities, and normally developing children. Many researchers of parenting stress have discussed or alluded to the importance of some of these variables with respect to parenting stress (Baker, 1994; Barkely, 1990; Beckman, 1991; Dumas, Wolf, Fisman & Culligan, 1991). However, simultaneous investigation of the aforementioned variables and characteristics is sparse.

The following can be expected in the review that follows. First, given the multitude of measurements of parenting stress, the concept of stress and more specifically, parenting stress will be discussed. The possible negative effects of parenting stress on children and families will then be explored. Next, child related variables to 1 parenting stress, such as disability status of the child will be reviewed.

A significant portion of parent related variables will discuss the importance of including fathers in parenting research and their role in society and the family. Movements toward inclusion of fathers in parenting research will be presented, as will a review of the comparison of mothers and fathers in the parenting stress literature. Investigation of other family and environmental factors influencing parenting stress, including SES and social support will then be discussed. Furthermore, the relationship between parental role identity and parenting stress will also be explored, and will be followed by a summary and rationale for this study.

The introduction will close with research questions and related hypotheses for the present investigation. The Concept of Stress Lazarus and Folkman (1984) define psychological stress as “a relationship between the person and the environment that is appraised by the person as taxing or exceeding his or her resources and endangering his or her well-being. Folkman (1984) describes this relationship between the person and environment as dynamic, bi- directional, and mutually reciprocal. Furthermore, one’s cognitive appraisal of the situation and coping methods utilized influence the degree of stress experienced by the person.

Lazarus and Folkman (1984) also describe a complex process of evaluating or appraising a stressful situation and the available coping options and resources to determine whether the resources will be adequate for coping with the demands of the stressor. Other researchers including Noppe, Noppe, and Hughes (1990) note that stress itself can be seen as a component of personality (i. trait variable), related to situational 2 factors (i. state variable), or as related to attitudinal variables such as interpersonal attributions and locus of control.

Lazarus and Folkman (1984) note that personal characteristics and environmental factors influence the appraisal of the person-environment relationship. Examples of personal characteristics are one’s type of motivation (i. goals and values), beliefs about the individual and the world, and recognition of one’s personal resources for coping (i. problem-solving skills, finances, social skills and level of health and energy).

Differences in these personal characteristics can help to explain why individuals evaluate similar stressful encounters differently. Environmental factors include the proximity and nature of the danger, its ambiguity and duration, as well as the availability and quality of social support resources. The Concept of Parenting Stress Given this general conceptual model of stress, researchers have sought to provide a useful conceptualization for a particular type of stress, parenting stress. One of the more widely used indices of parenting stress is the Parenting Stress Index (PSI), (Abidin, 1995), which provides a useful conceptualization for parenting stress.

Abidin acknowledges the assumption that stressors are multi-dimensional both in source and kind. He notes that this assumption led to the identification of three major source domains of stressors for parents: 1) Child Characteristics; 2) Parent Characteristics, and 3) Situational/Demographic-Life Stress. Child characteristics include factors such as the child’s adaptability, demandingness, and level of hyperactivity.