The influence of stress and child factors on families with educable mentally retarded children: the mother's viewpoint

Mothers in two-parent families of 43 EMR children aged 5 to 21 completed a mailed self-report booklet containing the Family Environment Scale, a family modification of the Edmond's Marital Conventionalization Scale, the Questionnaire on Resources and Stress Short-Form, the Family Inventory of Life Events and Changes, and a demographic questionnaire. The families were not on welfare. Reliability estimates and intercorrelations among the 11 factors on the QRS supported elimination of Terminal Illness Stress, Financial Stress, Physical Limitations, and Preference for Institutional Care for this sample. The remaining 7 factors of the QRS, the FILE, Sex, and Age (10 predictors) were regressed on each of the 10 family psychosocial variables measured by the FES utilizing a stepwise procedure. The influence of the aforementioned 10 selected stress and coping variables on 8 family psychosocial dimensions was presented; regressions of both independence and achievement orientation not significant. Two fully significant models of stress and coping were found: 69% of the variance in cohesion was predicted by family disharmony, dependency and management, and life span care; and 32% of the variance in organization was predicted by family disharmony and sex. Associations between specific predictor and criterion variables were reported. The correlation of the modi- fied version of the EMCS (a measure of social desirability) and both predictor and criterion variables was analyzed. The results were discussed in reference to the use of the shortened QRS, stress/coping influences on the family environment, and the theoretical importance of denial-like processes in coping. Clinical and research implications were also presented.

Name thesis:degree_name

Ph. D.

Level thesis:degree_level

doctoral

Discipline thesis:degree_discipline

Family and Child Development

Department dc:contributor.department

Family and Child Development

Grantor dc:publisher

Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University

Year dc:date.issued

1984

Author dc:creator

• Dougherty, John Michael

Chair dc:contributor.committeechair

• Maxwell, Joseph W.

Committee members dc:contributor.committeemember

• Moran, James D. III
• Protinsky, Howard O.
• Thompson, Linda
• Sluyter, Gary V.

Statement dc:rights

• In Copyright

Licence dc:rights.uri

• http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC/1.0/

Language dc:language.iso

en_US

Handle dc:identifier.uri

http://hdl.handle.net/10919/76073

OAI identifier oai:identifier

oai:vtechworks.lib.vt.edu:10919/76073