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Mental health challenges and resilience among mothers with intellectual and developmental disabilities
Marina Heifetz1, Hilary K Brown2, Megan Abou Chacra3
1Centre for Addiction and Mental Health, Toronto, Ontario, Canada; Department of Psychiatry, University of Toronto, Toronto, Ontario, Canada.
Background:
Mothers with intellectual and developmental disabilities (IDD) frequently experience mental health problems. Yet, they are excluded from broader women's mental health efforts, and few services exist to support their unique mental health needs.
Objectives:
Our objective was to identify key risk, protective, and resilience factors that affect mental health among mothers with IDD.
Methods:
We interviewed mothers with IDD on: (1) a quantitative measure to assess demographics and depressive symptoms and (2) qualitative focus groups on parenting and mental health (analyzed through thematic analysis). There were three focus groups, for a total sample of 12 mothers with IDD.
Results:
The 12 women in the sample had a total of 28 children, with a mean age of 11.3 years (SD = 9.9). The mean depressive symptom score in the sample was 13.8 (SD = 5.5), with 7 women scoring above the cut-off for clinically significant symptoms. Nine thematic categories were identified, organized into risks, protective factors, and resilience factors. Risks were parenting stress, life stressors, feelings of powerlessness with the child welfare system, and feeling judged. Protective factors were formal and informal supports. Resilience factors were motherhood enjoyment, having a good family life, and wishing to be independent.
Conclusions:
Efforts to improve mental health among mothers with IDD should minimize risks that undermine adaptive capabilities and promote resilience to restore efficacy of protective systems. Better training of service-providers working with individuals with IDD, using strength-based approaches and developing alternative, autonomy-building sources of support in the form of peer support groups is recommended.
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