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Journal of Pediatric Psychology Advance Access published online on April 22, 2008
Journal of Pediatric Psychology, doi:10.1093/jpepsy/jsn040
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© The Author 2008. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the Society of Pediatric Psychology. All rights reserved. For permissions, please e-mail: journals.permissions@oxfordjournals.org

Predictors of Psychological Morbidity in Parents of Children with Intellectual Disabilities

Stephen Gallagher, MSc1, Anna C. Phillips, PhD1, Christopher Oliver, PhD2 and Douglas Carroll, PhD1

1School of Sport and Exercise Sciences and 2School of Psychology, University of Birmingham

All correspondence concerning this article should be addressed to Stephen Gallagher, School of Sport and Exercise Sciences, University of Birmingham, Birmingham, B15 2TT, England. E-mail: sxg598{at}bham.ac.uk


  Abstract

Objective This study examined predictors of excess psychological morbidity in parents of children with intellectual disabilities. Methods Thirty-two parents of children with intellectual disabilities and 29 parents of typically developing children completed the Hospital Depression and Anxiety Scale, and measures of social support, child problem behaviors, sleep quality, and perceived caregiver burden. Results Parents of children with intellectual disabilities registered high depression and anxiety scores, and the majority met the criteria for possible clinical depression and/or anxiety. The strongest predictor of psychological morbidity was caregiver burden. Analyses of its component dimensions indicated that feelings of guilt held the greatest consequence for depression and anxiety. Conclusions Caregiver burden, in general, and its guilt component, in particular, predicted symptoms of depression and anxiety in parents of children with intellectual disabilities. Assisting such parents to resolve their feelings of guilt should benefit their psychological status.

Key words: anxiety; caregiving; depression; parents of children with intellectual disability.

Received January 18, 2008; revision received April 2, 2008; accepted April 3, 2008


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