Pathways of Protective Factors: Guarding Against Parenting Stress for Mothers of Children with Disabilities

Background/Purpose:  Disabilities and chronic health conditions affect approximately 20% of US children.  While parenting can be a rewarding experience, mothers of children who have disabilities, may experience greater parental stress given the additional care they must provide their children.  This study examines the pathways through which supportive neighborhoods may reduce parenting stress for mothers of children with disabilities.  Social cohesion, or the mutual trust and support between neighbors, is associated with lower parenting stress of mothers.  However, it has not been examined whether this protective factor is equally beneficial for mothers of children with disabilities. Further, the mechanisms through which social cohesion protect against parenting stress are not well understood.  The current study investigates social capital (in this study, support from friends and family that can be quantified in monetary units) as a possible mediator between social cohesion and parenting stress.  It further examines whether these pathways differ for mothers of children with a disability compared to mothers of children without disabilities.

Methods: We use data from the 5^th wave (child age 9) of the Fragile Families and Child Wellbeing (FFCW) study. FFCW is a longitudinal panel study that follows a birth cohort of children born and their families. Two analytic subsamples were drawn from the data: mothers of children with disabilities and/or chronic health problems and mothers of children without those conditions.

Parental stress was measured by a 4 item scale examining mothers’ attitudes toward feelings about parenting, social cohesion was measured by a 4 item scale assessing mothers’ perceptions of neighborhood support, and social capital was measured by a 4 item scale evaluating anticipated instrumental support.  We controlled for poverty, child sex, maternal age, education, race, and depression.

Using structural equation modeling, we examined the direct relationship between social cohesion and parenting stress, and the indirect relationship through maternal social capital.

Results: Model fit indices for mothers of children with disabilities demonstrated acceptable model fit (x²₁₂₃ = 375.851 p<.01, RMSEA= .043, CFI= .969, TLI=.962, and WRMR=1.352).  Direct and indirect paths between social cohesion and parental stress were statistically significant.  The model examining mothers of children without disabilities also demonstrated acceptable model fit (x²₁₂₃ = 526.967 p<.01, RMSEA= .039, CFI= .963, TLI=.954, and WRMR=1.592).  Social cohesion and social capital were again associated with decreased parenting stress, but the effect was stronger for mothers of children without disabilities. 

Conclusions and Implications:  Our findings suggest that neighborhood social cohesion and maternal social capital have positive influences on maternal stress for both mothers of children with disabilities and mothers of children without those conditions.  This relationship appears stronger for mothers of children without disabilities, which raises new questions about accessibility and use of neighborhood and individual support.  These findings are particularly important for social workers as our findings may suggest mothers of children with disabilities experience more social exclusion.  Given the beneficial effects of neighborhood social cohesion and social capital, social work researchers and practitioners should make efforts to develop interventions that increase social inclusion.