Social participation and depression in parents of children with developmental disability : a mediational model

Abstract

Research shows that raising a child with a developmental disability is associated with high levels of stress and low social participation by parents. Because social participation is associated with psychological health in the general population, low social participation might predict distress for these parents. Using data from the Wisconsin Longitudinal Study, a three-step procedure of linear regression analyses examined social participation as a mediator of stress associated with raising a child with a developmental disability, which predicts depression for these parents as opposed to a group of matched controls in later life. Contrary to the hypotheses, the groups did not significantly differ in depression symptoms in later life, and also did not significantly differ on any of the social participation variables in the early child rearing years. However, the groups did significantly differ in terms of friendship participation in midlife and late life with lower rates in the developmental disability group. Several of the measures of social participation at various points in adulthood predicted later life depression. Future directions and limitations are discussed.