Stress in Families of Young Children with Down Syndrome, Williams Syndrome, and Smith-Magenis Syndrome

Fidler, Deborah J.; Hodapp, Robert M.; Dykens, Elisabeth M.

doi:10.1207/s15566935eed1104_2

Cited by 118 publications

(113 citation statements)

References 19 publications

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“…Moreover, parents of children with DS suffer lower levels of stress compared with parents of children with MR with different etiologies (Fidler, Hodapp, & Dykens, 2000).…”

Section: Mother-child Interaction In Children With Down Syndromementioning

confidence: 99%

Play and emotional availability in young children with Down syndrome

Venuti

Falco

Giusti

et al. 2008

Infant Mental Health Journal

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This study investigates mother-child interaction and its associations with play in children with Down syndrome (DS). There is consensus that mother-child interaction during play represents an important determinant of typical children's play development. Concerning children with DS, few studies have investigated mother-child interaction in terms of the overall emotional quality of dyadic interaction and its effect on child play. A sample of 28 children with DS (M age = 3 years) took part in this study. In particular, we studied whether the presence of the mother in an interactional context affects the exploratory and symbolic play of children with DS and the interrelation between children's level of play and dyadic emotional availability. Children showed significantly more exploratory play during collaborative play with mothers than during solitary play. However, the maternal effect on child symbolic play was higher in children of highly sensitive mothers relative to children whose mothers showed lower sensitivity, the former displaying more symbolic play than the latter in collaborative play. Results offer some evidence that dyadic emotional availability and child play level are associated in children with DS, consistent with the hypothesis that dyadic interactions based on a healthy level of emotional involvement may lead to enhanced cognitive functioning.RESUMEN: El objetivo de este estudio fue investigar la interacción madre-infante y sus asociaciones con el juego en el caso de lo niños con el síndrome de Down (SD). Hay consenso con respecto a que la interacción madre-infante durante el juego representa un importante determinante en cómo los niños típicos desarrollan su juego. Con respecto a niños con síndrome de Down, pocos estudios han investigado la interacción madre-infante -en términos de la calidad emocional en general de la interacción de la díada -y sus efectos en el juego del niño. En este estudio, participó un grupo muestra de 28 niños con síndrome de Down (M edad = 3 años). En particular, queríamos verificar si la presencia de la madre en un contexto interaccional afecta el juego exploratorio y simbólico del niño con síndrome de Down, así como la interrelación entre el nivel de juego del niño y la disponibilidad emocional de la díada. Los niños mostraron significativamente más juego exploratorio durante la colaboración en el juego con madres que durante los momentos de juego solitario. Sin embargo, el efecto maternal sobre el juego simbólico del niño fue mayor en aquellos niños cuyas madres eran altamente sensibles, con relación a los niños cuyas madres mostraron más baja sensibilidad; aquéllos mostraron más juego simbólico queéstos durante las sesiones de juego colaborativo. Los resultados ofrecen alguna evidencia de que la disponibilidad emocional de la díada y el nivel de juego del niño están asociados en los casos de niños con síndrome de Down, consistente con la hipótesis de que las interacciones díadicas basadas en un saludable nivel de involucramiento emocional pudieran llevar a un...

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“…Moreover, parents of children with DS suffer lower levels of stress compared with parents of children with MR with different etiologies (Fidler, Hodapp, & Dykens, 2000).…”

Section: Mother-child Interaction In Children With Down Syndromementioning

confidence: 99%

Play and emotional availability in young children with Down syndrome

Venuti

Falco

Giusti

et al. 2008

Infant Mental Health Journal

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

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“…As Table 1 illustrates, advantages on one or more measures have been noted for families of offspring with Down syndrome compared to various control-contrast groups. Most often, advantages have been noted in the Down syndrome groups compared to groups with autism [Holroyd and MacArthur, 1976;Wolf et al, 1989;Kasari and Sigman, 1997;Sanders and Morgan, 1997], though studies also show such advantages compared to groups with other syndromes [Fidler et al, 2000]. Some studies have compared families of young children [Erikson and Upshure, 1989;Hanson and Hanline, 1990]; others have examined adult offspring [Seltzer et al, 1993].…”

Section: Findings To Date Mothersmentioning

confidence: 99%

Families of persons with Down syndrome: New perspectives, findings, and research and service needs

Hodapp

2007

Ment. Retard. Dev. Disabil. Res. Rev.

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To understand the families of offspring with Down syndrome, this article begins by describing the change in orientation--from "negative" to "stress-and-coping" perspectives--in studies of families of offspring with disabilities. In reviewing the existing studies, mothers, fathers, and siblings cope slightly better than family members of persons with other disabilities, a phenomenon called the "Down syndrome advantage." Beyond this more general finding, however, much remains unknown. Most studies examine only parental or sibling levels of stress or coping, leaving unknown the marital, occupational, health, educational, and other "real-world" outcomes for these family members. Increased research attention is needed to understand the life-span needs of families of persons with Down syndrome and the impact of cultural and sociocultural diversity on family outcomes. It will also be important to relate family outcomes to differences in the offspring's behaviors, development, relationships, medical conditions, psychopathology, and the presence (and effectiveness) of needed support services. Although these families have received some research attention over the past several decades, we now need to make family research in Down syndrome more concrete, more life-span, and more tied to characteristics of the individual with the syndrome and the family's surrounding support system.

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“…Moreover, compared to others with mental retardation, children with Down syndrome also show lower levels of maladaptive behavior (Dykens & Kasari, 1997;Meyers & Pueschel, 1987), and compared to families of children with other disabilities, parents of children with Down syndrome generally report lower levels of parental stress (Fidler et al, 2000)). …”

Section: What Do We Know About the Individual Behaviors Of Children Wmentioning

confidence: 99%