Masters Thesis

Informal social support and parenting stress in mothers and fathers of children with and without developmental risk

Decades of research have shown that parenting stress has the potential to have negative consequences on the wellbeing of the entire family. Parents of children with developmental risk frequently report high levels of stress, but less is known about differences between mothers’ and fathers’ experiences of parenting stress, nor how variables such as social support may affect parents’ experience of stress. This cross-sectional study examined whether social support served as a moderator in the relation between developmental risk and parenting stress in parents of 3-5-year-old children with and without developmental risk. Results indicated that, contrary to hypotheses, parenting stress (daily hassles) of parents of children with developmental risk did not differ significantly from parents of typically developing children. No support was found for the hypothesis that informal social support would moderate parenting daily hassles. Also, no significant differences were found between mothers and fathers in perceptions of parenting daily hassles. The implications of these findings, as well as possible directions for future research in this area, are discussed.

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