Family Hardiness, Religiosity/Spirituality, and Depression in Mothers and Fathers of Children With Disabilities

Little research has investigated the relationship between hardiness and religiosity/spirituality (R/S) as predictors of well-being in parents raising children with developmental disabilities. To better serve these families, we investigated how these variables might collectively influence parental depression in 217 couples with a "target child"-33 typically developing children and 184 children with developmental disabilities. We hypothesized that higher levels of hardiness and R/S in mothers and fathers would be associated with lower levels of depression, even when controlling for other factors such as family income, parental education, and the age of the child with a disability. Additionally, we hypothesized that the relationship among hardiness, R/S, and depression would differ between parents raising a child with a developmental disability and those raising typically developing children. As predicted, both mothers and fathers who reported higher levels of hardiness also reported less depression, even when controlling for other variables. Mothers who reported higher R/S also reported less depression. Hardiness had a stronger association with depression than R/S, particularly for fathers. Interestingly, the relationship between these variables did not differ depending on whether the child had a developmental disability. Based on our findings, we recommend that practitioners support parents in developing hardiness by designing family-centered services that focus on individual and familial strengths, engage in faith-based conversations when appropriate, and recognize how parents' faith can influence their sense of control over adverse situations.