Parents of children with special needs can experience more stress in their marriage than parents of children without special needs. Previous work has focused on the child as a major influence for the marital relationship, however this research sought to examine less commonly discussed factors that influence marital satisfaction for these parents. Perceived job flexibility and perceived spousal support in parenting were targeted as potential influencers. A mediation model was attempted to explain the mediating role of perceived spousal support in parenting in the relationship between perceived job flexibility and marital satisfaction. Results showed no correlation between perceived job flexibility and marital satisfaction. Positive correlations between perceived job flexibility and perceived spousal support in parenting were found and positive correlations were also seen between perceived spousal support in parenting and marital satisfaction. Analysis produced a more linear model of influence than the predicted mediation model. Implications of these findings were discussed.
","abstract_html":"<p>Parents of children with special needs can experience more stress in their marriage than parents of children without special needs. Previous work has focused on the child as a major influence for the marital relationship, however this research sought to examine less commonly discussed factors that influence marital satisfaction for these parents. Perceived job flexibility and perceived spousal support in parenting were targeted as potential influencers. A mediation model was attempted to explain the mediating role of perceived spousal support in parenting in the relationship between perceived job flexibility and marital satisfaction. Results showed no correlation between perceived job flexibility and marital satisfaction. Positive correlations between perceived job flexibility and perceived spousal support in parenting were found and positive correlations were also seen between perceived spousal support in parenting and marital satisfaction. Analysis produced a more linear model of influence than the predicted mediation model. Implications of these findings were discussed.</p>","abstract_has_math":false,"creators":["Perlowski, Katie M"],"institution":null,"degree_name":"Master of Science (MS)","degree_level":"Masters Thesis","degree_discipline":"Child and Family Studies","degree_department":null,"school":null,"contributors":["Lindsay E. Wright","Amanda L. Williams","Heath A. Grames"],"advisors":[],"committee_chairs":[],"committee_members":[],"year":2017,"date_issued":"2017-08-01T07:00:00Z","date_published":"2017-08-01T07:00:00Z","updated_at":"2026-07-24T05:44:50Z","subjects":["marital satisfaction","special needs","job flexibility","spousal support in parenting","Social and Behavioral Sciences"],"languages":[],"rights":[],"rights_urls":[],"identifier_entries":[]},"links":{"outbound_url":"https://aquila.usm.edu/masters_theses/305","outbound_label":"Repository record","outbound_source":"dc:identifier"},"metadata_groups":[{"id":"people","label":"People","entries":[{"key":"dc:contributor","label":"Contributor","values":["Lindsay E. Wright","Amanda L. Williams","Heath A. Grames"]},{"key":"dc:creator","label":"Author","values":["Perlowski, Katie M"]}]},{"id":"academic_context","label":"Academic Context","entries":[{"key":"dc:date.available","label":"Dc Date Available","values":["2017-06-30T07:00:00Z"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_discipline","label":"Discipline","values":["Child and Family Studies"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_level","label":"Degree Level","values":["Masters Thesis"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_name","label":"Degree Name","values":["Master of Science (MS)"]}]},{"id":"subjects_keywords","label":"Subjects and Keywords","entries":[{"key":"dc:subject","label":"Dc Subject","values":["marital satisfaction","special needs","job flexibility","spousal support in parenting","Social and Behavioral Sciences"]}]},{"id":"identifiers","label":"Identifiers","entries":[{"key":"dc:identifier","label":"Identifier","values":["https://aquila.usm.edu/masters_theses/305"]}]},{"id":"additional","label":"Additional Metadata","entries":[{"key":"dc:description.abstract","label":"Abstract","values":["Parents of children with special needs can experience more stress in their marriage than parents of children without special needs. Previous work has focused on the child as a major influence for the marital relationship, however this research sought to examine less commonly discussed factors that influence marital satisfaction for these parents. Perceived job flexibility and perceived spousal support in parenting were targeted as potential influencers. A mediation model was attempted to explain the mediating role of perceived spousal support in parenting in the relationship between perceived job flexibility and marital satisfaction. Results showed no correlation between perceived job flexibility and marital satisfaction. Positive correlations between perceived job flexibility and perceived spousal support in parenting were found and positive correlations were also seen between perceived spousal support in parenting and marital satisfaction. Analysis produced a more linear model of influence than the predicted mediation model. Implications of these findings were discussed.
"]},{"key":"dc:title","label":"Title","values":["The Influence of Perceived Job Flexibility and Spousal Support On the Marital Satisfaction of Parents of Children With Special Needs"]}]}],"canonical_facts":{"dc:contributor":["Lindsay E. Wright","Amanda L. Williams","Heath A. Grames"],"dc:creator":["Perlowski, Katie M"],"dc:date.available":["2017-06-30T07:00:00Z"],"dc:description.abstract":["Parents of children with special needs can experience more stress in their marriage than parents of children without special needs. Previous work has focused on the child as a major influence for the marital relationship, however this research sought to examine less commonly discussed factors that influence marital satisfaction for these parents. Perceived job flexibility and perceived spousal support in parenting were targeted as potential influencers. A mediation model was attempted to explain the mediating role of perceived spousal support in parenting in the relationship between perceived job flexibility and marital satisfaction. Results showed no correlation between perceived job flexibility and marital satisfaction. Positive correlations between perceived job flexibility and perceived spousal support in parenting were found and positive correlations were also seen between perceived spousal support in parenting and marital satisfaction. Analysis produced a more linear model of influence than the predicted mediation model. Implications of these findings were discussed.
"],"dc:identifier":["https://aquila.usm.edu/masters_theses/305"],"dc:subject":["marital satisfaction","special needs","job flexibility","spousal support in parenting","Social and Behavioral Sciences"],"dc:title":["The Influence of Perceived Job Flexibility and Spousal Support On the Marital Satisfaction of Parents of Children With Special Needs"],"thesis:degree_discipline":["Child and Family Studies"],"thesis:degree_level":["Masters Thesis"],"thesis:degree_name":["Master of Science (MS)"]},"updated_at":"2026-07-24T05:44:50Z"}