Parent stress, parenting competence and family-centered support to young children with an intellectual or developmental disability

Abstract

A family-centered approach to the support of families with a young child with an intellectual or developmental disability has been widely adopted in the last decade. While some of the foundational assumptions of family-centered theory have been tested, there remain considerable gaps in the research evidence for this approach. While parenting stress and competence have been examined in the general family support literature, these variables have received little attention in the family-centered support literature. This pilot study examined the relationship between parent stress and parenting competence and family-centered support. The results suggest that important components of family-centered practice are significantly associated with parent stress, but that a meaningful association between parenting competence and family-centered practice is yet to be demonstrated.