This literature review compares the adjustment of mothers and fathers to the stress resulting from having a child with a disability. The ABCX model developed by Hill was selected for the analysis due to its emphasis on the response to stress in general of both the family as a whole and of individual family members. The model distinguishes between…

The project, Extending Family Resources, was designed to assess the impact on 14 families of raising children with handicapping conditions and to implement a model program to reduce obstacles facing those families. The model emphasized incorporating under-involved relatives, friends, and neighbors into the family's support network. Performance…

The study compared the self-concepts of siblings of handicapped children with norms and examined mediators for this personality variable. Thirty-four siblings of handicapped children (2-15 years old) from the United States and Canada completed a children's self-concept scale while their parents filled out two questionnaires: one on parental…

Administering and supervising special education programs and personnel may be daunting tasks for school leaders. Students and families who warrant the access to special education services present unique and complex needs that make administrative decisions anything but universal and simplistic, especially in regards to foster care populations. The…

This study investigated the effect of long-term professional social agency support on the level of stress perceived by mothers (N=65) of preschoolers with disabilities. Mothers completed the Questionnaire on Resources and Stress (QRS-F) and the Holmes and Rahe Social Readjustment Rating Scale. The hypothesis that stress is greater for mothers of…

This study sought: (1) to develop and collect evidence of reliability and validity for self-report instruments to measure cognitions about the experience of having a child with a disability; and (2) to examine the relationship of these cognitions with measures of stress and well-being among parents of children with disabilities. Cognitions…

The paper explores the impact of child variables, parent variables, and family resources (professional and informal supports) on the family's ability to cope with a child with special needs. Child variables include child gender, birth order, severity of handicap, degree of child dependency, extent of attachment, age of the child, and presence of…

This study tracked parental stress among 115 mothers of infants and toddlers with disabilities to evaluate patterns of stability and change in parental adaptation during the early childhood period. Parents were given the Parenting Stress Index three times: upon entry into an early intervention program, 1 year later, and when the child reached age…

This study was designed to examine two contrasting types of parent groups in terms of their differential effects on parents and their disabled infants. The first type of parent support group was focused upon the psychological adaptation of mothers to their disabled child. It was hypothesized that the parent-centered group would directly affect the…

These three papers report preliminary findings of an early intervention collaboration study on developmentally vulnerable infants and their families in Massachusetts and New Hampshire. Subjects, 190 infants with Down syndrome, motor impairment, or developmental delays of unknown etiology, were recruited from 29 community-based early intervention…

The study investigated the ranking of stress associated with various life events by parents of handicapped children. Forty-seven parents of children with handicapping conditions were administered the Social Readjustment Rating Questionnaire. Mean values and ranks for life event items were compared with previously reported data. Overall ranking by…

Peer support can be helpful in reducing the stress involved in giving birth to and raising a child with handicaps. A peer support group can help meet the parents' needs for information, emotional support, and ways to connect with social/health systems components. To be successful, a peer support system should be led by parents, have access to…

The paper examines culturally specific values among low socioeconomic blacks which influence their response to a disabled or high risk child within the family. First is the extended family and the dependence on family rather than on social agencies for assistance in child care and support. The second cultural characteristic, the overall openness…

This paper reports the findings of a research study that investigated the ways in which Australian regular class teachers cope during inclusive education and the specific issues which are stressful for them. The study was undertaken in primary schools in Queensland, Australia, during 1997. Initial focus group interviews with 17 regular class…

Recent developments in family stress and coping research and a review of data and observations of families in a war-induced crisis situation led to an investigation of the relationship between a stressor and family outcomes. The study, based on the Double ABCX Model in which A (the stressor event) interacts with B (the family's crisis-meeting…