What Are the Factors That Can Challenge and Promote Resilience in Parents of Children With Intellectual Disabilities? A Systematic Review.
Wattana Tejakum, Maria Truesdale, Craig Melville and 1 others
PMID 41449743WHAT IT FOUND
Resilience in parents of children with intellectual disabilities is linked to problem-solving, social support, hope, and positive perceptions of the child's disability.
Financial strain, child behaviour problems, and lack of support challenge this adaptation. The evidence is observational, so these factors are associated with resilience, not proven causes.
Key findings
01Problem-focused coping and strong social support are consistently associated with higher resilience and better family adaptation.
02Financial strain, low income, and child behaviour problems are significant stressors that negatively impact parental well-being and resilience.
03Positive perception of the child's disability and hope are personal factors linked to better mental health outcomes and adaptation.
STILL TO COME
How it was doneWhat they foundWhat it means for PTsWhat it means for OTsWhat it means for SLPs
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What it does not show
Mothers were overrepresented (81% of participants), so findings may not fully apply to fathers. Most included studies had an unclear risk of bias. The review could not determine causality; factors associated with resilience may also be outcomes of it. Heterogeneity in resilience measures prevented a meta-analysis. The review did not break down findings by specific caregiving stages (e.g., childhood vs. adulthood).
Declared interests
The research was funded by the Royal Thai Government Scholarship. The authors declared no conflicts of interest.
The easy way to misread this
Do not assume that improving a single factor, such as social support, will directly cause resilience. These are observational associations from heterogeneous studies, and the direction of influence is not proven.
Summarised by AI from the full paper, without a clinician reviewing it. Check it against the source before it changes what you do. Read it on PubMed →