A study was conducted to estimate the extent of differences in mental health between parents of children with and without disabilities. Data was collected from the Growing up in Australia: The Longitudinal Study of Australian Children (LSAC), a nationally representative study tracking the development of two cohorts of children: the Birth Cohort for children less than two years old, and the Kindergarten Cohort for children four to five years old. Each cohort has been followed up every two years on family demographics, parenting, health, and wellbeing. The parent sample was limited to the child’s primary carer, which in most cases was the child’s biological mother. The LSAC data is linked to the parent Medicare Benefits Schedule (MBS) records, which is part of Australia’s universal health insurance scheme covering medical services mainly outside the hospital setting.

Research Design

Due to the large responsibility, parents of children with disabilities may face barriers to access mental health services, from not having enough time to schedule appointments to considering their health as low priority. Furthermore, services available for these parents are inadequate—around 19.1% of parents were not satisfied with the organized services available to assist them in their caring role. The percentage of parents of children with disabilities who reported they need more support increased (40.5% in 2012 to 57.4% in 2018), suggesting there are unmet needs among them.

Wesleyan University

Parents often make changes in their social and family life to accommodate their child, as caring for a disabled child can make parenting complex and a heavier duty. Around one-quarter of parents of children with disabilities reported that the role affected their social life with 30.8% reporting they have completely lost contact with friends, relatives, or extended family. Additionally, lower couple satisfaction was reported among these parents, with 21.2% reporting their relationship was strained, and 23.3% stating they lacked alone time together. Caring for a child with disability also often results in financial hardship due to increased expenses and decreased income—35.3% of parents reported an increase in their living expenses and 45.5% reported decreased labor force participation to take on their caring role. 36.3% of them reported decreased household income. These factors can lead to grief, isolation, stress, and eventually, mental health issues such as depression or anxiety.

Reasons for Higher Prevalence of Mental Illness

Chen C, Bailey C, Baikie G, Dalziel K, Hua X. Parents of children with disability: Mental health outcomes and utilization of mental health services. Disabil Health J. 2023 Oct;16(4):101506. doi: 10.1016/j.dhjo.2023.101506. Epub 2023 Jul 6. PMID: 37517905.

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