At the Crossroads of Poverty and Disability

New York University, New York NY

Investigators

Abstract

DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): This study examines mental health outcomes among mothers who are poor and have young children with disabilities, a population that has been virtually ignored in prior studies. This study aims to answer three primary research questions, using ecological systems theory as a conceptual framework: 1. How does a child's disability, operationalized as the child's level of functioning, affect maternal depression and parenting stress in families in poverty?2. Is the above relationship mediated by involvement with other systems: disability- and poverty-related services and government programs, employment, and child care? 3. Are these mediated relationships moderated by the experience of using/interacting with those systems? To accomplish this, 150 low-income mothers who have children receiving early intervention services will be recruited with the assistance of the Washington, D.C. Office of Early Intervention. Information will be collected about maternal and child background characteristics, the child's level of functioning, use of disability and poverty related services and the hassles involved with the use of those services, maternal employment and employment hassles, and child care use and child care-related hassles. Ordinary least squares regression will be used to test both the mediated and moderated relationships.