Family Strengths in the Care of Handicapped Children: Targets for Intervention

The purpose of this investigation is to examine the critical family strengths which contribute to the overall health status and health improvement of children who have mild, moderate, and severe cerebral palsy. The sample of 130 two-parent families who each had a child with cerebral palsy living at home was divided into three groups based on whether the child had a mild, moderate, or severe handicap. Using the Typology Model of Adjustment and Adaptation, the relationships between family stress, family types, resources, and parental coping and the child's health status and overall health improvement in each group are examined. Mother's coping and family type contribute to the health improvement of the mildly impaired child; family stress and family type are related to the moderately impaired child's physical health status; and the family resource of esteem/communication, mothers' coping, and family type are related to the health improvement of the severely impaired child with cerebral palsy. Implications of these findings for intervention by practitioners is discussed.