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Published on: June 6, 2020
Lifelong Parenting of Adults With Developmental Disabilities: Growth Trends Over 20 Years in Midlife and Later Life
Eun Ha Namkung1, Jan S Greenberg2, Marsha R Mailick3
1Eun Ha Namkung, School of Social Work, University of Wisconsin-Madison; The Lurie Institute for Disability Policy, Brandeis University.
Abstract:
This research examined how parenting adults with developmental disabilities affects parental well-being beyond midlife and into old age. Parents of adults with developmental disabilities ( n = 249) and parents of adults without disabilities ( n = 9,016), studied in their early 50s and mid-60s, were longitudinally tracked into their early 70s. Compared to parents of adults without disabilities, parents of adults with disabilities showed a pattern of normative functioning in their 50s, followed by poorer well-being in their mid-60s, and further declines in health and well-being into the early 70s. Aging parents who co-resided with their adult child with disabilities were particularly vulnerable, experiencing a steeper increase in depressive symptoms and body mass index (BMI) than parents whose child with disabilities lived away from home.
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