Abstract

Background: Neurodevelopmental Disorders do not only affect the child manifesting these disabilities, but they also have a significant impact on other family members. The dependence of these children on other family members for ongoing support can be a significant source of stress for parents.
Objectives: (i) to assess the stress of parents of children early diagnosed ‘at risk’ for Specific Learning Disorder and (ii) to test whether parental stress is correlated with specific conditions, such as sociodemographic characteristics as well as characteristics of the children’s developmental history.
Methods: The sample was consisted of twenty-one parents whose children, 4-6 years old, were early diagnosed ‘at risk’ for Specific Learning Disorder. Participants were asked to complete a Parental Stress Index / Short Form (PSI-SF), a child’s developmental history, and a form of sociodemographic characteristics.
Results: Findings revealed that parents experienced parental stress, which was associated with the disabilities of their children, while their occupational status is also related to the subscales of the Parental Stress/Short Form (PSI-SF). Statistical significance was found between the mean score of the subscales of the Parental Stress Index/ Short Form (PSI-SF) and characteristics of the developmental history of children diagnosed ‘at risk’ for Specific Learning Disorder, such as age of sitting, walking, saying the first words and phrases.
Conclusions: The findings of the current pilot study enhance the aspect that the earlier research is applied on the needs of children at "risk" for Specific Learning Disorder, parental discomfort, and dysfunctional parent-child interactions, the more appropriate is the treatment of both parental stress and the difficulties of children ‘at risk’ for Specific Learning Disorder.