Understanding positive parenting style and parenting efficacy in parents having children with disabilities in China: the mediating role resilience

Parenting a child with disability is a challenging task globally. The purpose of this study was to examine the association of positive parenting style and parenting efficacy of parents having Children with special needs in China. A total of 373 Chinese parents (126 fathers and 248 mothers) of children with special needs participated in this study by reporting their positive parenting style, resilience and parenting efficacy scales. We found that (1) the neither significant differences of parents’ resilience nor parenting Efficiency had significant differences across child’s disability types; however, parents with children with hearing disability and visual disabilities had significantly lower levels of positive parenting than other types. (2) positive parenting style had a positive relationship with parents’ self-efficacy. Positive parental rearing was associated with higher resilience. (3) In addition, resilience played a fully mediating role between positive parenting style and parents’ efficacy. Family-centered interventions should be applied to help parents develop a positive parenting style and resilience.