Child adjustment as related to severity of paternal disability.

Many rehabilitation professionals have speculated that the more severe a parent's physical disability, the more disruptive are the effects on family life and child development. The present study tested this prediction by comparing children of fathers with paraplegia and quadriplegia on measures of personality adjustment, sex role identification, body image, health patterns, athletic interests, interpersonal relationships, parent-child relations, values, and attitudes. Few relationships between severity of paternal disability and child adjustment were found on more than 150 variables of child personality, behavior, and attitudes. When 6 variables showed differences between children of fathers with quadriplegia and paraplegia, there was no evidence of disturbed development in either group.