Age-related changes in stress experienced by families with a child who has developmental delays

The hypothesis that stress in families increases as a child with developmental delays grows older was evaluated. Mothers with children ranging in age from 2 to 18 years were assigned to a preschool, middle childhood, or adolescent group and asked to complete the Parenting Stress Index (PSI). Results indicated that Child Domain scores were high for all groups, but Parent Domain scores were within normal limits. The middle childhood group was consistently higher in both domains than either the younger or older groups. Degree of handicap was not associated with mothers' stress in the preschool group, but was related to PSI scores for both other groups. Behavior problems were highly correlated with maternal stress for the middle childhood and adolescent groups (data not available for preschool group).