Parental attitudes to out-of-home placement of young children with developmental disabilities

The study tested the research construct that parental inclination to apply for out-of-home placement for their young children with developmental disabilities (up to 5 years) was a function of their stress levels, sense of coherence, and social support received from formal and informal resources. Sixty-one parents (out of 80) of children diagnosed as developmentally disabled in the central western part of Israel participated in the study. The construct above was confirmed, as the sense of coherence and informal social support moderated the levels of stress and parental consideration of out-of-home placement for the young child. In brief, parents that favoured raising their developmentally disabled children at home had high levels of sense of coherence and a strong informal support system. Findings are interpreted with respect to practice and previous research.