Families of children with Down syndrome: feelings, lifestyle and parental stress

Authors

  • Nara Liana Pereira-Silva
  • Maria Auxiliadora Dessen

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.5380/psi.v10i2.7675

Keywords:

Down syndrome, families, preschoolers, parental stress

Abstract

Considering the importance of investigating family processes to understand the development of disabled children, this comparative study describes some developmental aspects of children with and without Down syndrome and their family functioning. It focuses on family lifestyles, parental stress and parental reactions and feelings when facing diagnosis of Down syndrome in their children. Ten families participated in this study, all consisting of mother, father and children leaving together; five of them having a child with Down syndrome. These families were visited at a six-month interval during a two-year period, when questionnaires,  semi-structured interviews and a parental stress scale were administered to each parent. The results show that the routines of both families are similar and that the mothers of Down syndrome children are more stressful than those of typically developing children. The empirical data suggests lifestyle similarities and parental stress differences among those family groups, suggesting the need of further investigation.

 

Keywords: Down syndrome; families; preschoolers; parental stress.

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How to Cite

Pereira-Silva, N. L., & Dessen, M. A. (2006). Families of children with Down syndrome: feelings, lifestyle and parental stress. Interação Em Psicologia, 10(2). https://doi.org/10.5380/psi.v10i2.7675

Issue

Vol. 10 No. 2 (2006)

Section

Articles

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