A mediation model of parental stress, parenting, and risk factors in families having children with mild intellectual disability

In accordance with the determinant of parenting model (Belsky, 1984), a conceptual model is proposed in which parental stress mediates the links between child, proximal, and distal risk factors and parental behavior. Participants were 156 families with children aged 4–7 years (M = 5.64 years, SD = 0.62; 59 % boys); research group: 75 two-parent families having children with mild intellectual disability (MID); control group: 81 two-parent families with typically developed (TD) children. Parents completed questionnaires, and parent-child interactions were videotaped. Results indicated differences between groups in levels of parental stress and child and proximal risk factors, but not in distal risk factors. Furthermore, the paths between the proximal and child levels of risk to maternal parenting were mediated by maternal stress for both MID and TD groups. Risk factors were linked to paternal stress for all fathers, yet the mediation effect was only found for families with TD children. Distal risk factors significantly influenced maternal and paternal parenting, but only in families having children with MID and with no mediation of stress. The importance of being mindful to both proximal and distal ecologies of children with MID and their parents is discussed, as is the need to address the different influences fathers and mothers may have on their children.