A Framework for Resilience Research in Parents of Children with Developmental Disorders

Abstract

The challenges of rearing a child with developmental disorders are associated with high levels of parental stress, depression, and other negative emotions. Thus, clinicians frequently set one of the intervention goals to be parent adaptation to such challenges, which we call parenting resilience for rearing children with developmental disorders. In this article, we reviewed research on general resilience and mental health in parents of children with developmental disorders and proposed a construct of parenting resilience for this population. In our framework, parenting resilience is defined as the process of positive adaptation to the difficulties of rearing children with developmental disorders and consists of internal (e.g., positive perception, skill, coping style, and efficacy) and external (e.g., social support) factors. We discussed future directions for the application of parenting resilience in parents of children with developmental disorders.