Lifelong Parenting of Adults With Developmental Disabilities: Growth Trends Over 20 Years in Midlife and Later Life.
Eun Ha Namkung, Jan S Greenberg, Marsha R Mailick and 1 others
PMID 29671639WHAT IT FOUND
Parents of adults with developmental disabilities had more depressive symptoms, poorer health, and fewer social visits at age 71 than comparison parents.
Those living with their adult child showed rising depression over time.
Key findings
01At age 71, parents of adults with developmental disabilities reported 1.34 more depressive symptoms than comparison parents.
02At age 71, parents whose adult child with developmental disabilities lived with them had lower psychological well-being, fewer visits with friends or relatives, more health symptoms, and greater BMI at a trend level than parents whose adult child lived away.
03Co-residing parents showed increases in depressive symptoms over time, while parents who lived apart were stable.
STILL TO COME
How it was doneWhat they foundWhat it means for OTs
Read the rest of this summary
You get three full summaries a month, free, and we do not ask for a card. Search, the TL;DRs and your library stay unlimited either way.
What it does not show
The study identified parents during the 2004-2006 interviews, so parents who had died or left the study before then were not included. The sample is one cohort of Wisconsin high school graduates from 1957, and over 99% were white, so the findings may not apply to other groups. The study did not measure caregiving details such as the child's behavior problems, so it cannot explain why parents differed. The exposed group was 249 parents, while the comparison group was 9,016 parents. Attrition was substantial: the original sample was 10,317, and the 2011 wave had 5,969 respondents.
Declared interests
The paper is tagged as supported by N.I.H., Extramural, and Non-U.S. Gov't. The supplied text does not include an author conflict of interest statement.
The easy way to misread this
Do not read this as proof that parenting an adult with a developmental disability causes poorer health. The study compares parents over time and cannot separate caregiving from other life circumstances. It also does not test a treatment.