Salud mental de padres de niños y adolescentes con discapacidad intelectual: explorando la relación entre la crianza y las conductas desafiantes

Introduction: Research shows that parents of children with
intellectual disability experience more mental health problems
than those of children with typical development, which has
been related to several factors such as sociodemographic characteristics,
parenting attitudes, practices and styles, the presence
of behaviors that challenge and the level of supports
required by their child. To understand the relationship of
these variables is crucial for the development of interventions
and supports for this group.
Methods: One hundred and twenty-three Chilean mothers and
fathers of children with intellectual disability between 7 and 17
years of age participated in our study.
Results: Participants reported higher levels of depression, anxiety,
perceived stress, and parental stress compared to the general
population. Cluster analysis identified two groups based on mental
health symptoms (low vs. high), revealing differences in their
child’s behavior, parenting styles, parental age, and socioeconomic
status. Parents in the low symptoms group are older, from higher
socioeconomic status and reported better parental attitudes, less
behaviors that challenge and more prosocial behaviors in their
child, that the participants in the high symptoms group.
A conditional classification tree analysis highlighted limit setting
and parental involvement as key predictors of these clusters.
Conclusion: Our findings emphasize the need to further explore
the relationship between mental health and contextual factors
in parents of children with intellectual disability to identify risk
of mental health problems in the parents and develop effective
interventions for this group.