Differences, Difficulties and Adaptation: Stress and Social Networks in Families with a Handicapped Child

This paper discusses differences in 100 families with and without a handicapped child with respect to three types of stress (individual, marital, and parenting) and three structural characteristics of their social support networks (size, density, and boundary density). Generally, higher levels of stress and distinct network structures were found for the families with handicapped children. Despite the presence of high levels of stress, the families were found to have successful coping strategies. The results are discussed in terms of recognizing family strengths, and incorporating existing adaptational patterns in clinical interventions.