The authors examined the impact of having a child with a chronic illness or handicapping condition on marital quality and on perceived marital stability. Using data from the National Study of Families and Households (NSFH), married parents caring for a child with a chronic illness or disability (n = 94) were contrasted with married parents of well children (n = 3,693). Data were analyzed using ordinary least squares regression. Neither marital quality nor perceived marital stability differed between the two groups. These results call into question assumptions that children with special needs irreparably harm marriages.
Get full access to this article
View all access options for this article.
References
1.
Abbott, D. A.
, & Meredith, W. H. (1986). Strength of parents with retarded children. Family Relations: Journal of Applied Family & Care Studies, 35(3), 371-375.
2.
Acock, A. D.
, & Demo, D. H. (1994). Family diversity and well-being. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.
3.
Aiken, L. S.
, & West, S. G. (1991). Multiple regression: Testing and interpreting interactions. Newbury Park, CA: Sage.
4.
Bailey, K. D.
(1987). Methods of social research. New York: Free Press.
5.
Belsky, J.
, & Rovine, M. (1990). Patterns of marital change across the transition to parenthood: Pregnancy to three years postpartum. Journal of Marriage and the Family, 52, 5-19.
6.
Benson, B. A.
, & Gross, A. M. (1989). The effect of a congenitally handicapped child upon the marital dyad: A review of the literature. Clinical Psychology Review, 9, 747-758.
7.
Bernard, J.
(1972). The future of marriage. New York: World.
8.
Camparo, L.
, Christensen, A., Buhrmester, D., & Hinshaw, S. (1994). System functioning in families with ADHD and non-ADHD sons. Personal Relationships, 1, 301-308.
9.
Cook, J. A.
(1988). Who “mothers” the chronically mentally ill?Family Relations, 37, 42-49.
10.
Corman, H.
, & Kaestner, R. (1992). The effects of child health on marital status and family structure. Demography, 29, 389-408.
11.
Davis, H.
, & Rushton, R. (1991). Counseling and supporting parents of children with developmental delay: A research evaluation. Journal of Mental Deficiency Research, 35, 89-112.
12.
Fincham, F. D.
, & Bradbury, T. N. (1987). The assessment of marital quality: A reevaluation. Journal of Marriage and the Family, 49, 707-809.
13.
Fisman, S.
, & Wolf, L. (1991). The handicapped child: Psychological effects of parental, marital, and sibling relationships. Psychiatric Clinics of North America, 14, 199-217.
14.
Friedrich, W. N.
, Cohen, D. S., & Wilturner, L. S. (1987). Family relations and marital quality when a mentally handicapped child is present. Psychological Reports, 61, 911-919.
15.
Friedrich, W. N.
, & Friedrich, W. L. (1981). Psychosocial assets of parents of handicapped and nonhandicapped children. American Journal of Mental Deficiency, 85, 551-553.
16.
Gath, A.
(1972). The mental health of siblings of congenitally abnormal children. Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry, 13, 211-218.
17.
Glenn, N. D.
(1989). Duration of marriage, family composition, and marital happiness. National Journal of Sociology, 3, 3-24.
18.
Glenn, N. D.
(1990). Quantitative research on marital quality in the 1980s: A critical review. Journal of Marriage and the Family, 52, 818-831.
19.
Hanushek, E. A.
, & Jackson, J. E. (1977). Statistical methods for social scientists. New York: Academic Press.
20.
Heaton, T. B.
(1990). Marital stability throughout the child-rearing years. Demography, 27, 55-63.
21.
Heaton, T. B.
(1991). Time-related determinants of marital dissolution. Journal of Marriage and the Family, 53, 285-295.
22.
Hirst, M.
(1991). Dissolution and reconstitution of families with a disabled young person. Developmental Medicine and Child Neurology, 33, 1073-1079.
23.
Hoyert, D. L.
, & Seltzer, M. M. (1992). Factors related to the well-being and life activities of family caregivers. Family Relations, 41, 74-81.
24.
Katzev, A. R.
, Warner, R. L., & Acock, A. C. (1994). Girls or boys? Relationship of child gender to marital instability. Journal of Marriage and the Family, 56, 89-100.
25.
Kazak, A. E.
(1987). Families with disabled children: Stress and social networks in three samples. Journal of Abnormal Child Psychology, 15, 137-146.
26.
Kazak, A. E.
, & Marvin, R. S. (1984). Differences, difficulties and adaptation: Stress and social networks in families with a handicapped child. Family Relations, 33, 67-77.
27.
Klinnert, M. D.
, Gavin, L. A., Wamboldt, F. S., & Mrazek, D. A. (1992). Marriages with children at medical risk: The transition to parenthood. Journal of the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, 31, 334-342.
28.
Konstantareas, M. M.
, & Homitidis, S. (1991). Effects of developmental disorder on parents: Theoretical and applied considerations. Psychiatric Clinics of North America, 14, 183-196.
29.
Koo, H.
, & Janowitz, B. (1983). Interrelationships between fertility and marital dissolution. Demography, 20, 129-145.
30.
Kurdek, L. A.
(1991). The relations between reported well-being and divorce history, availability of a proximate adult, and gender. Journal of Marriage and the Family, 53, 71-78.
31.
Lewis, R. A.
, & Spanier, G. B. (1979). Theorizing about the quality and stability of marriage. In W. Burr, R. Hill, F. Nye, & I. Reiss (Eds.), Contemporary theories about the family: Vol. 2. Research-based theories (pp. 268-294). New York: Free Press.
32.
MacDermid, S. M.
, Huston, T. L., & McHale, S. M. (1990). Changes in marriage associated with the transition to parenthood: Individual differences as a function of sex-role attitudes and changes in the division of household labor. Journal of Marriage and the Family, 52, 475-486.
33.
McAlister, R.
, Butler, E., & Lei, T. (1973). Patterns of social interaction among families of behaviorally retarded children. Journal of Marriage and the Family, 35, 93-100.
34.
McCarthy, J.
(1978). A comparison of the probability of the dissolution of first and second marriages. Demography, 15, 345-360.
35.
Norton, A. J.
, & Moorman, J. E. (1987). Current trends in American marriage and divorce. Journal of Marriage and the Family, 49, 3-14.
36.
Pillitteri, A.
(1995). Maternal and child health nursing: Care of the childbearing and childrearing family. Philadelphia: J. B. Lippincott.
37.
Price, S. J.
, & McKenry, P. C. (1988). Divorce. Newbury Park, CA: Sage.
38.
Sabatelli, R. M.
, & Shehan, C. L. (1993). Exchange and resource theories. In P. G. Boss, W. J. Doherty, R. LaRossa, W. R. Schumm, & S. K. Steinmetz (Eds.), Sourcebook of family theories and methods: A contextual approach (pp. 385-411). New York: Plenum.
39.
Sabbeth, B. F.
, & Leventhal, J. M. (1984). Marital adjustment to chronic childhood illness: A critique of the literature. Pediatrics, 73, 762-768.
40.
Shek, D.T.L.
, & Tsang, S.K.M. (1993). The Chinese version of the Kansas Marital Satisfaction Scale: Some psychometric and normative data. Social Behavior and Personality, 21, 205-214.
41.
Singhi, P. D.
, Goyal, L., Pershad, D., Singhi, S., & Walia, B.N.S. (1990). Psychosocial problems in families of disabled children. British Journal of Medical Psychology, 63, 173-182.
42.
Spanier, G.
, & Thompson, L. (1983). Relief and distress after marital separation. Journal of Divorce, 7, 31-49.
43.
Stein, R.E.K.
, & Jessop, D. J. (1982). A noncategorical approach to chronic childhood illness. Public Health Reports, 97, 354-362.
44.
Sweet, J.
, Bumpass, L., & Call, V. (1988). The design and content of the National Survey of Families and Households. NSFH Working Paper No. 1. Madison: University of Wisconsin-Madison Center for Demography and Ecology.
45.
Tavormina, J. B.
, Boll, T. J., & Dunn, N. J. (1981). Psychosocial effects on parents of raising a physically handicapped child. Journal of Abnormal Child Psychology, 9, 121.
46.
Waite, L. J.
, & Lillard, L. A. (1991). Children and marital disruption. American Journal of Sociology, 96, 930-953.
47.
Wallace, P. M.
, & Gotlib, I. H. (1990). Marital adjustment during the transition to parenthood: Stability and predictors of change. Journal of Marriage and the Family, 52, 21-29.
48.
Weed, J.
(1980). National estimates of marriage dissolution and survivorship: United States (DHHS, Vital and Health Statistics, Series 3). Washington, DC: U.S. Government Printing Office.
49.
White, L. K.
(1990). Determinants of divorce: A review of research in the eighties. Journal of Marriage and the Family, 52, 904-912.
50.
White, L.
, & Booth, A. (1985). The transition to parenthood and marital quality. Journal of Family Issues, 6, 435-449.
51.
Wright, L. M.
, & Leahey, M. (Eds.). (1987). Families and chronic illness. Philadelphia: Springhouse.
