ADAPTATION OF FAMILIES WITH MENTALLY-RETARDED CHILDREN - A MODEL OF STRESS, COPING, AND FAMILY ECOLOGY

  • 1 January 1983
    • journal article
    • research article
    • Vol. 88  (2) , 125-138
Abstract
Research concerned with families of mentally retarded children has often yielded inconsistent, and, at times, contradictory findings. This inconsistency is partly due to methodological inadequacies and a narrow focus on unidimensional variables with unimodal measurements. No succinct model has been presented to explain family adaptation and the range of possible outcomes. A critical review focused on parents, siblings, parent-child interaction and family systems was presented. A comprehensive conceptual model was proposed; it accounts for the range of possible familial adaptations (both positive and negative), involving the impact of perceived stress associated with the presence of a retarded child, and the family''s coping resources and ecological environments as interactive systems that serve to mediate the family''s response to stress.