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Mothers and Fathers of Children with Cerebral Palsy: Differences in Future Expectations

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Abstract

Parents’ expectations are known to be a central component in children’s development through multiple pathways; however, limited information exists regarding expectations of parents of children with developmental disabilities. The purpose of the current study was to examine future expectations of parents of children with cerebral palsy (CP), as well as the differences in expectations between mothers and fathers. Forty-nine mothers and fathers of children with CP (6–12 years) participated in this study. Parents completed a Parental Future Expectations Questionnaire for Children with Disabilities, and a Perception of Child’s Ability questionnaire, as well as the Pediatric Evaluation Disability Inventory (PEDI). The Gross Motor Function Measure-66 (GMFM-66) was completed by physical therapists. Parental differences in future expectations were analyzed and multiple-stepwise regressions established parental expectations’ predictors. Parents’ expectations correlated with their child’s characteristics. Parents of children with lower levels of functioning reported lower expectations. No differences were found between mothers’ and fathers’ future expectations; however, differences were found between expectations’ predictors. Predictors of mothers’ expectations were their perceptions of their child’s abilities as well as child’s performance. Fathers’ predictors were child’s level of functional impairment and their perceptions of their child’s abilities. The results indicate that parental expectations relate to their child’s functional ability and differ between parents in relation to the child’s level of impairment (fathers) or child’s actual performance (mothers). These differences should be acknowledged by clinicians when they provide specific support for children with chronic physical disabilities and their families.

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Notes

  1. Feldman and Ben Moshe (2006) evaluated several basic life domains which were also addressed by the parents in the current study.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. The Edmond and Lily Safra Children’s Hospital, Chaim Sheba Medical Center, Pediatric Rehabilitation Department, 52621, Ramat Gan, Israel

    Sharon Barak, Dina Elad, Tamar Silberg & Amichai Brezner

  2. Physical Education Department, Kaye Academic College of Education, Beer Sheva, Israel

    Sharon Barak

  3. Department of Psychology, Bar Ilan University, Ramat Gan, Israel

    Tamar Silberg

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  1. Sharon Barak
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  2. Dina Elad
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  3. Tamar Silberg
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  4. Amichai Brezner
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Correspondence to Tamar Silberg.

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Ethical Approval

All procedures performed in studies involving human participants were in accordance with the ethical standards of the institutional and/or national research committee and with the 1964 Helsinki declaration and its later amendments or comparable ethical standards.

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Informed consent was obtained from all individual participants included in the study.

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Sharon Barak declares that she has no conflict of interest; Dina Elad declares that she has no conflict of interest; Tamar Silberg declares that she has no conflict of interest and Amichai Brezner declares that he has no conflict of interest.

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Barak, S., Elad, D., Silberg, T. et al. Mothers and Fathers of Children with Cerebral Palsy: Differences in Future Expectations. J Dev Phys Disabil 29, 223–240 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10882-016-9521-1

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