The University of Hong Kong, China.
The University of Hong Kong, China.
Res Dev Disabil. 2017 Nov;70:1-10. doi: 10.1016/j.ridd.2017.08.007. Epub 2017 Aug 30.
Raising a child with intellectual disability (ID) may be stressful for parents. Previous studies have suggested the mediating role of mindfulness in the association between child behavior problems and parental stress.
The present study examined whether this mediating role is a result of parents' self-report bias. It also explored whether mindfulness has a moderating role instead when child behavior problems are reported by teachers.
In a questionnaire survey, 271 Chinese parents of children with ID in 6 Hong Kong special schools reported their levels of stress and mindfulness, as well as their children's behavior problems. The latter was also reported by teachers.
When child behavior problems were reported by parents, parental mindfulness was a mediator between child behavior problems and parental stress. In contrast, when child behavior problems were reported by teachers, parental mindfulness was a moderator between child behavior problems and parental stress.
The mediation role of mindfulness maybe an artifact of measurement. The findings provide an encouraging message that parenting a child with ID and behavior problems does not necessarily mean more stress among all parents. Parents with a high level of mindfulness may experience less stress than those with a low level of mindfulness.
Parents of children with intellectual disability (ID) tend to report high psychological stress. Previous self-report studies have identified mindfulness as a mediator in the association between child behavior problems and parental stress. The present study differs from previous studies by including third-party's reports. It has contributed to the existing body of knowledge in two respects. First, it examined whether the mediation effect resulted from parent self-report bias. Second, it tested an alternative hypothesis of the moderation effect by using teachers' reports to measure child behavior problems. The results showed that when child behavior problems were measured by parents' reports, parental mindfulness was a mediator between child behavior problems and parental stress. The more the parents reported that their children had behavior problems, the less they reported being mindful, which in turn the more stressful they were. However, when child behavior problems were measured by teachers' reports, parental mindfulness was a moderator instead, moderating the association between child behavior problems and parental stress. The association was ameliorated when parents reported high levels of mindfulness. These findings reveal another possible role of mindfulness and shed light on the support for parents of children with ID.
养育智障儿童（ID）可能会给父母带来压力。先前的研究表明，正念在儿童行为问题与父母压力之间起中介作用。
本研究旨在检验这种中介作用是否是父母自我报告偏差的结果。它还探讨了当儿童行为问题由教师报告时，正念是否具有调节作用。
在一项问卷调查中，271 名来自香港 6 所特殊学校的智障儿童家长报告了他们的压力和正念水平，以及他们孩子的行为问题。后者也由教师报告。
当儿童行为问题由父母报告时，父母的正念是儿童行为问题与父母压力之间的中介因素。相比之下，当儿童行为问题由教师报告时，父母的正念是儿童行为问题与父母压力之间的调节因素。
正念的中介作用可能是测量的一种假象。研究结果提供了一个令人鼓舞的信息，即养育智障和行为问题的孩子并不一定意味着所有父母的压力都更大。正念水平较高的父母可能比正念水平较低的父母体验到的压力更小。
智障儿童（ID）的父母往往报告较高的心理压力。先前的自我报告研究已经确定，正念是儿童行为问题与父母压力之间关联的中介因素。本研究与以往研究的不同之处在于纳入了第三方报告。它在两个方面丰富了现有的知识体系。首先，它检验了中介效应是否源于父母的自我报告偏差。其次，它通过使用教师报告来衡量儿童行为问题，检验了调节效应的替代假设。研究结果表明，当儿童行为问题由父母报告时，父母的正念是儿童行为问题与父母压力之间的中介因素。父母报告的孩子行为问题越多，他们报告的正念就越少，从而压力就越大。然而，当儿童行为问题由教师报告时，父母的正念是调节因素，调节了儿童行为问题与父母压力之间的关系。当父母报告的正念水平较高时，这种关系得到改善。这些发现揭示了正念的另一种可能作用，并为智障儿童的父母提供了支持。
