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ERIC Number: EJ746128
Record Type: Journal
Publication Date: 2006-Dec
Pages: 12
Abstractor: Author
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: ISSN-0964-2633
EISSN: N/A
Mothers of Young Adults with Intellectual Disability: Multiple Roles, Ethnicity and Well-Being
Eisenhower, A.; Blacher, J.
Journal of Intellectual Disability Research, v50 n12 p905-916 Dec 2006
Background: Two opposing perspectives--role strain and role enhancement--were considered as predictive of women's psychological and physical health. The authors examined the relation between multiple role occupancy (parenting, employment, marriage) and well-being (depression and health) among mothers of young adults with intellectual disability (ID). Methods: Participants were 226 mothers aged 35-70 years old caring for a young adult aged 16-26 years old with moderate to severe/profound ID. Mothers were of either Latino ethnicity (n = 117) or Anglo (n = 109). Mothers' ethnicity and degree of acculturation and young adults' adaptive behavior and behavior problems were examined as potential moderators. Results: Mothers who were employed, married, or both reported better well-being than mothers who were both unemployed and unmarried, especially when their offspring had relatively higher adaptive functioning. This relationship between role occupancy and well-being was fully mediated by socio-economic status (SES) factors. Results did not suggest a role enhancement effect, but instead indicated a role shortage effect; unemployed, unmarried mothers experienced markedly poor well-being, while all other mothers experienced comparable well-being. Well-being scores were higher for Anglo than for Latino mothers; this relationship was entirely accounted for by SES. In Latina mothers, the relation between role occupancy and well-being was moderated by degree of acculturation. Conclusions: Findings suggest that multiple roles benefit mothers of young adults with ID primarily through their impact on socio-economic resources. For more acculturated Latina mothers, occupying more roles predicted better well-being even after controlling for SES. Latina mothers who were unemployed and unmarried had lower SES, and this group emerged as at particular risk. The latter group may benefit most from respite assistance and other interventions aimed at addressing their physical and mental health.
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Publication Type: Journal Articles; Reports - Research
Education Level: N/A
Audience: N/A
Language: English
Sponsor: N/A
Authoring Institution: N/A
Grant or Contract Numbers: N/A