Life satisfaction and activity preferences in parents of Down's syndrome children

The impact of parenting a child with Down's syndrome on life satisfaction and non-work activities was investigated in 37 couples using mailed checklists. The results were compared with those found in all 89 parents from a randomly selected population. Only for 7 of the 41 non-work activities were there differences between the two groups of parents. The vast majority of both groups were satisfied or very satisfied with life as a whole and with partnership relations, sexual life and family life. The 8 domains of life satisfaction formed 3 factors. In congruence with previous findings in a non-selected sample these factors were significant classifiers for satisfaction with life as a whole, an expressive (emotion related) factor being the major classifier. The close similarities in non-work activities and life satisfaction are interpreted as a result of adequate adaptive resources within the majority of families of children with Down's syndrome.