Continuities and changes in parenting sense of competence were examined for mothers of children with Down syndrome from early childhood to adolescence. The sample comprised 25 mothers whose child with Down syndrome was aged 4–6 years in the first phase of the study, and H–15 years at the second time point. Maternal satisfaction with parenting increased over time, but there were no changes in parenting self-efficacy. Scores on these measures were no different from those reported in a normative sample of mothers of typically developing children, suggesting that the challenges of parenting a child with Down syndrome do not impact significantly on parenting sense of competence during the early childhood and adolescent periods. There were some significant relationships of maternal sense of competence with child characteristics and self-reported parenting style, mostly in the expected direction.

Item Type:	Refereed Article
Keywords:	parenting sense of competence, Down syndrome, parenting self-efficacy, satisfaction with parenting, parenting style, support for autonomy
Research Division:	Psychology
Research Group:	Applied and developmental psychology
Research Field:	Psychology of ageing
Objective Division:	Law, Politics and Community Services
Objective Group:	Community services
Objective Field:	Carers' support
UTAS Author:	Cuskelly, M (Professor Monica Cuskelly)
ID Code:	126241
Year Published:	2012
Web of Science® Times Cited:	13
Deposited By:	Education
Deposited On:	2018-05-30
Last Modified:	2018-08-28
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