Waisman Center, University of Wisconsin-Madison, USA.
School of Social Work and Waisman Center, University of Wisconsin-Madison, Madison, USA.
Soc Sci Med. 2018 Nov;217:152-158. doi: 10.1016/j.socscimed.2018.09.044. Epub 2018 Oct 15.
Parents of individuals with developmental disorders or mental health problems often provide life-long care and support to their children, which negatively affects their health in part due to chronic stress. This study aimed to examine the experience of stigma as a source of chronic stress among parents of individuals with developmental disorders or mental health problems and the effect of stigma on parental health outcomes.
Using data from the Survey of Midlife in the United States (MIDUS 2 and 3), we constructed a sample for a longitudinal analysis including 128 parents of individuals with developmental disorders (e.g., autism, cerebral palsy, epilepsy, Down syndrome, intellectual disabilities, brain injury, ADD/ADHD) or mental health problems (e.g., bipolar disorder, schizophrenia, major depression) and 2256 parents whose children were nondisabled.
Parents who had children with developmental disorders or mental health problems prior to the beginning of the study (i.e., at MIDUS 1) reported higher levels of stigma related to embarrassment/shame and daily discrimination than parents of nondisabled individuals ten years later at MIDUS 2, which in turn were associated with poorer parental health outcomes (poorer self-rated health and a greater number of chronic conditions) nearly a decade after that at MIDUS 3.
The findings suggest that the stigma associated with parenting a child with disabilities may be one mechanism that places such parents at risk for poor health. Efforts to alleviate the stigma associated with developmental disorders or mental health problems may have beneficial effects on health of parents of individuals with such conditions.
患有发育障碍或精神健康问题的个体的父母通常会为其子女提供终身的照顾和支持，这会导致他们的健康受到负面影响，部分原因是慢性压力。本研究旨在探讨父母因照顾患有发育障碍或精神健康问题的子女而遭受污名化的经历对慢性压力的影响，以及污名化对父母健康结果的影响。
本研究使用了来自美国中年调查（MIDUS 2 和 3）的数据，构建了一个纵向分析样本，包括 128 名有发育障碍（如自闭症、脑瘫、癫痫、唐氏综合征、智力障碍、脑损伤、ADD/ADHD）或精神健康问题（如双相情感障碍、精神分裂症、重度抑郁症）子女的父母，以及 2256 名子女无残疾的父母。
与子女无残疾的父母相比，在研究开始前（即 MIDUS 1 时）就有发育障碍或精神健康问题子女的父母报告了更高水平的与尴尬/羞耻和日常歧视相关的污名化，而这一污名化水平在十年后的 MIDUS 2 时更高，这反过来又与父母的健康结果较差（自我报告的健康状况较差和慢性疾病数量较多）有关，而这一结果在近十年后的 MIDUS 3 时更为明显。
研究结果表明，与养育残疾子女相关的污名可能是使这些父母面临健康风险的一个机制。减轻与发育障碍或精神健康问题相关的污名化的努力可能会对这些人群的父母的健康产生有益影响。
