Caregiving Perceptions of Chinese Mothers of Children with Intellectual Disability in Hong Kong

Abstract

Background In this study, we tested the effects of three different coping strategies (i.e. problem‐focused, emotion‐focused and relationship‐focused coping) on both positive and negative caregiving perceptions. Materials and Methods Two hundred and twelve Chinese mothers of children with intellectual disability from a major non‐governmental organization were recruited across various districts in Hong Kong. Chinese versions of the Daily Caregiving Stress Scale, Modified Family Support Scale, COPE Inventory, Relationship‐Focused Coping Scale, Caregiver Burden Inventory, and subscales of the Kansas Inventory of Parental Perceptions were completed. Results: Findings of the hierarchical regression analyses indicated that whereas problem‐focused and emotion‐focused coping was differentially related to positive and negative perceptions, respectively, relationship‐focused coping was significantly related to both types of perceptions. Results of the relationship between positive and negative perceptions showed preliminary support for their orthogonality. Conclusions: Relationship‐focused coping was found to be more suitable for understanding caregiver perceptions within collectivistic cultures. Implications for professional services were discussed.

Parenting an Infant with a Congenital Anomaly: How are Perceived Burden and Perceived Personal Benefits Related to Parenting Stress?

“…Moreover, and in accordance with previous studies (Hastings et al, 2005;Mak & Ho, 2007), the parents' perception of personal benefits associated with caring for a child with a CA occurs independently of their levels of perceived burden (negative perceptions). While the Table 4 Pearson correlations between sociodemographic and clinical variables, negative (perceived burden) and positive (perceived personal benefits) perceptions and parenting stress negative perceptions seem to derive more directly from the objective experience of caregiving, it is possible that the perceived personal benefits associated with the experience of parenting an infant with a CA may be dependent on some dispositional characteristics (e.g., dispositional hope, dispositional optimism, strong sense of self; Affleck & Overall model statistic: F 5,37 = 3.54, p = .01, R 2 = .32…”

“…Moreover, positive and negative perceptions about the parenting experience seem to occur independently, i.e., parents may simultaneously perceive caregiving demands/burden and personal benefits associated with the experience of parenting a child with a CA (Hastings, Beck, & Hill, 2005;Mak & Ho, 2007). As most of the studies comprise parents of preschool-and schoolaged children, negative and positive perceptions about the experience of parenting an infant with a CA during the first months post-birth should be further examined.…”

Coping strategies, caregiving burden, and depressive symptoms of Taiwanese mothers of adolescents with autism spectrum disorder

“…Higher scores were indicative of a greater use of problem-and emotion-focused coping strategies. The Chinese version of the COPE Scale showed adequate internal consistency reliability scores for the problem-focused (.90) and emotion-focused (.72) coping strategies (Mak & Ho, 2007). Alpha reliability was .83 for problem-focused coping strategies and .70 for emotion-focused coping strategies in the current study.…”

Coping and Well-Being in Parents of Children with Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASD)

“…Implicatively, Asian parents of children with ASD may then cope better with stress than Caucasian parents (Benson 2010;Penley et al 2002;Taylor and Stanton 2007). Despite this, it is also possible that Asianrelated ideologies such as ''saving face'' can influence Asian parents to internalize any stressful feelings felt, and not reach out for support, to avoid the social stigma of having a child with a developmental disability (Kawachi and Berkman 2001;Mak and Ho 2007;Uchino 2006).…”