Parenting Provided by Adults with Mental Retardation

Abstract

Studies assessing the quality of parenting provided by adults with mental retardation present conflicting conclusions. Some consider the majority to be doing reasonably well, whilst others report frequently unsatisfactory caretaking. There are a number of reasons for such different views. First, inconsistent selection criteria make it hard to compare across studies. In particular, sample composition will be influenced by the recruitment source. For example, if parents have been chosen from voluntary educational programmes a rather different picture is likely to be found than if they have been selected from individuals known to, or referred by, statutory agencies. On the whole, authors working with subjects from the former source have been rather more optimistic than those working with parents referred because there were already serious concerns about parenting difficulties or about delayed child development. Secondly, the majority of studies have used poorly defined global measures of parenting, with variable criteria of what constitutes adequate care. Some have concentrated on physical care and hygiene, whilst others have looked for the presence of affection and warmth. A child's reception into care as the sole measure of the quality of parenting is an unsatisfactory criterion because parental retardation has itself occasionally been used as the basis for removal of a child into care, even in the absence of other evidence of neglect or abuse. Thirdly, methodological flaws are found in studies that have used observational assessments of parenting. Such studies have suggested mothers with mental retardation tend to lack interactive skills (such as high levels of praise and imitation, and low restrictiveness) which are known to be associated with optimal child development. Control groups have often not been matched on social and other variables which might be expected to exert a significant influence upon parenting practices. In addition, the generalisability of these observational studies is open to question as parenting style has been adduced from brief play sessions, lasting at the most 10 minutes. The extent to which mothers with mental retardation play spontaneously with their children at home in a stimulating and age-appropriate fashion has not been measured. With regard to the evidence on abuse and neglect, questions have been raised about whether the children of parents with mental retardation are at increased risk. This problem has rarely been addressed in a methodologically satisfactory way. First, most studies have drawn their samples from referrals to medical or psychiatric departments. Secondly, as indicated earlier, reception into care cannot by itself be taken to be an indicator of child abuse.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 400 WORDS)

Parents with Intellectual Disability Learning to Parent: the role of experience and informal learning

“…For example, it is not clear how many parents with intellectual disability there are, nor how many of these parents are primarily responsible for parenting their children, nor how many carry out parenting satisfactorily. In the main, as many commentators have noted (e.g., Booth & Booth, 1993a;Dowdney & Skuse, 1993;Tymchuk & Feldman, 1991), the literature presents information about those parents not managing-or thought to be not managing-parenting adequately. This is not surprising as it is usually difficult for investigators to recruit parents without recourse to social service agencies.…”

“…The research literature contains contradictory findings. This reflects frequent flaws in research design including inadequate sampling practices, poor definition of parenting behaviour, and lack of valid and reliable measures with which to judge parenting (Dowdney & Skuse, 1993;Tymchuk, 1990). Whitman and Accardo (1990) pessimistically, and by anecdotal report, noted that with regard to parenting failure, the question "would seem to be not whether, but when" (p. 70).…”

Developmental profiles of children born to mothers with intellectual disability

“…Why is it that some children experience difficulties while others do not? A number of variables may play a part, such as genetic anomalies; antenatal and birth complications; parental health (physical and mental) and social support; the quality of a parent's own upbringing; the adequacy of support services; and, the ''resilience'' of the child (Booth & Booth, 2000;Dowdney & Skuse, 1993;Feldman, 1986;Gath, 1988;Llewellyn, 1997;Tymchuk, Andron, & Unger, 1987;Young, Young, & Ford, 1997). Such insight will enable services to respond more appropriately and effectively to the individual needs of these children and their families.…”

Adult attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder and child protection: review of evidence and child safeguarding guidelines

“…There have been studies investigating parenting and child safeguarding for adult patients with a variety of disorders, most notably borderline personality disorder 2 and intellectual disability, 3 but also schizophrenia, 4 bipolar affective disorder 5 and depression. 6 Attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) is a developmental psychiatric disorder typified by a constellation of symptoms starting in childhood and frequently continuing into adult life.…”