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Updated: Dec 10, 2025

Assessing the Coherence of Parents' Short Narratives Regarding their Child Using the Five-Minute Speech Sample Procedure
Published on: September 19, 2019
Longitudinal changes in well-being of parents of individuals with developmental or mental health problems
Carlie J Sloan1, Marsha R Mailick2, Jinkuk Hong2
1Department of Human Development and Family Studies, Pennsylvania State University, 335 Health and Human Development Building, University Park, PA, 16802, USA.
Rationale:
A large body of work demonstrates the impact of caregiving burden on the well-being of parents of individuals with developmental conditions or mental health problems. However, a relative dearth of research examines this impact longitudinally into parents' older age.
Objective:
The current study examines (1) longitudinal changes in the effect of having a child with a developmental or mental health problem on parental negative affect, psychological well-being, and somatic symptoms, (2) age and gender moderations on these effects, and (3) the unique impact of factors related to the child's condition.
Method:
This study employs hierarchical linear regression models to examine longitudinal survey data from midlife adults (N = 1,101) from two waves of the National Study of Midlife in the United States (MIDUS).
Results:
Models revealed some evidence for age attenuation of the impact of caregiving stress. Parents of children with developmental problems still had higher negative affect, poorer psychological well-being, and more somatic symptoms on average than parents in a comparison sample, whereas parents of children with mental health problems only showed evidence of higher negative affect compared to this sample. Within-group analyses also revealed differences between each parenting group into later adulthood.
Conclusions:
Parents of individuals with developmental or mental health problems may be at risk for poorer well-being late in life. Yet, age and gender differences as well as diagnostic group differences nuance these findings.
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