Williams Caitlin A, Thompson Paul A, Hastings Richard P
School of Psychology, University of Birmingham, 52 Pritchatts Road, Edgbaston, Birmingham B15 2SA, UK; UCL Division of Psychiatry, 6th Floor Maple House, 149 Tottenham Court Road, London W1T 7NF, UK.
Intellectual Disabilities Research Institute (IDRIS), Muirhead Tower, University of Birmingham, Edgbaston, Birmingham B15 2TT, UK.
Res Dev Disabil. 2025 Sep;164:105082. doi: 10.1016/j.ridd.2025.105082. Epub 2025 Jul 28.
The Family Stress Model (FSM) is a developmental framework used to explain the relationship between family economic hardship and children's developmental outcomes through parent factors. As a developmental theory, the FSM should be able to explain the impact of early adversity on developmental outcomes for all children, including children with intellectual disabilities.
Primary caregivers (n = 372, 88 % White British) of children with intellectual disabilities (M age at Wave 1=7.31 years, SD=1.91) completed an online survey at three time points. The survey measured subjective and objective poverty, parental psychological distress, parenting behaviours, child-parent relationship quality, and the developmental outcomes of the child with intellectual disabilities. A series of preregistered structural equation models were used to examine whether the FSM was applicable to a sample of families with children with intellectual disabilities.
The final model testing the FSM using dimensions of child-parent relationship quality and parenting behaviours whilst covarying parenting and relationship variables had satisfactory model fit (χ(25)= 69.839; p < .001; CFI= .949; TLI= .887; SMSR= .055; RMSEA= .069, AIC= 18444.623). Child-parent relationship quality had a stronger effect on children's developmental outcomes compared to the primary caregiver's parenting behaviours.
The FSM can be successfully applied as a developmental framework to families of children with intellectual disabilities. Reducing family economic adversity and parental psychological distress through early interventions and supportive social policy could significantly improve child-parent relationship quality, thereby improving developmental outcomes over time for children with intellectual disabilities. Future research studies should aim to test whether other theoretical models hold up when applied to this population.
家庭压力模型（FSM）是一个发展框架，用于通过父母因素解释家庭经济困难与儿童发展结果之间的关系。作为一种发展理论，FSM应该能够解释早期逆境对所有儿童，包括智障儿童发展结果的影响。
智障儿童（第一次调查时的平均年龄=7.31岁，标准差=1.91）的主要照顾者（n = 372，88%为英国白人）在三个时间点完成了一项在线调查。该调查测量了主观和客观贫困、父母心理困扰、养育行为、亲子关系质量以及智障儿童的发展结果。使用一系列预先注册的结构方程模型来检验FSM是否适用于智障儿童家庭样本。
最终模型使用亲子关系质量和养育行为维度来检验FSM，同时对养育和关系变量进行协变量分析，模型拟合良好（χ(25)= 69.839；p <.001；CFI =.949；TLI =.887；SMSR =.055；RMSEA =.069，AIC = 18444.623）。与主要照顾者的养育行为相比，亲子关系质量对儿童发展结果的影响更强。
FSM可以成功地作为一个发展框架应用于智障儿童家庭。通过早期干预和支持性社会政策减少家庭经济逆境和父母心理困扰，可以显著改善亲子关系质量，从而随着时间的推移改善智障儿童的发展结果。未来的研究应旨在测试其他理论模型应用于该人群时是否成立。
