Parenting Stress in Mothers of Children and Adolescents with Down Syndrome

Parenting stress has deleterious effects on parents, children, and overall family functioning. Parents of children with intellectual disability, including Down Syndrome (DS), show higher levels of parenting stress than parents of typically developing children. This research aimed to (i) evaluate parenting stress levels in a group of mothers of youths with DS using a parent-report questionnaire, (ii) identify children's individual and clinical features associated with maternal stress, and (iii) identify specific situational life/demographics factors related to maternal stress. Seventy-eight youths with DS underwent a neuropsychological evaluation, whereas mothers completed questionnaires for the assessment of parenting stress and of the child's emotional and behavioral problems. We found that Parent-Child Difficult Interaction was the domain with the highest percentage of clinical scores (39.7%). Both internalizing and externalizing problems correlated with maternal stress, as well as autistic symptoms. The levels of maternal stress were not associated with any socio-demographic variable. After controlling for child-related correlates of maternal stress and for mothers' age and education level, unemployed mothers exhibited higher levels of parental distress than employed mothers. The present study highlights that unemployment is related with parenting stress and potentially amenable to policy interventions supporting parents in combining work and family care.