Fathers of children with or without ID: understanding long-term psychological symptoms

Background: Researchers have primarily relied on mother report to understand the parenting contexts of rearing children with intellectual disabilities. Fathers are increasingly being considered as equally important reporters of their child's behaviours, as they have unique and independent relationships with their children. The purpose of this study was to understand how one source of stress - reports of child behaviour problems - along with spousal support related to parenting tasks, associated with fathers' reports of psychological symptoms over time.

Method: One hundred eighty-two father participants completed measures of child behaviour problems, spousal support and psychological symptoms. Growth curve modelling was employed to examine paternal psychological symptoms over the child's developmental trajectory.

Results: Fathers' reports of child behaviour problems predicted initial levels of paternal psychological symptoms but did not predict change in paternal psychological symptoms over time. Spousal support further reduced initial levels of paternal psychological symptoms.

Conclusions: Child behaviour problems are more important than disability status in predicting father's psychological symptoms. Spousal support predicts paternal psychological symptoms and can be viewed as an additional resource for fathers. Implications for research and practice are discussed.