Family Support: A Buffer for Parenting Stress among Ethnic Minority Parents of Children with DD
Year: 2013
Type: article
Study design: Observational Study
Abstract: Adapting to a new culture is a stressful experience for some ethnic minorities. Lower acculturation in ethnic minorities is related to high levels of stress. Parents of children with developmental delays (DD) typically experience high levels of stress, particularly parenting stress. Therefore, ethnic minority families of children with development delays may be at risk for especially high levels of parenting stress due to the additive stress of adapting to a new culture. Currently, there is uncertainty within the field about the relationship between acculturation and parenting stress given that studies have found both low and high levels of acculturation to be associated with high levels of parenting stress. Thus, acculturation may ameliorate or exacerbate the parenting stress experienced by minority families of children with DD. In the current study, we explored the impact of acculturation on parents of children with DD as well as investigated family support as a potential moderator of this relationship. Our results indicated that the effect of acculturation on parenting stress depended on the level of family support. More specifically, low levels of acculturation were associated with increased parenting stress and family support did moderate this relationship. Further investigation in other forms of social support that may help to explain this relationship is the necessary next step in deeper understanding.
Author: Susanna Luu
Language: English
Subfield: Clinical Psychology
Field: Psychology
Domain: Social Sciences
Open Access status: green
OpenAlex ID: W2255117529