Predictors of parental empowerment in families of children aged 2–6 years with severe disabilities

AIM: The aim of this study was to investigate the relationship between empowerment and psychological factors in parents of children aged 2 to 6 years with severe disabilities. Differences between mothers and fathers were also explored. METHODS: The study used baseline data from the Norwegian PIH Multi study, an ongoing multi-center randomized controlled trial investigating the effects of an intensive habilitation program for preschool children with severe disabilities and their parents. Parental empowerment was measured using the Family Empowerment Scale. Potential predictors included parenting stress, psychological distress, optimism and quality of life, measured by four other questionnaires. A linear mixed model was employed to identify significant predictors of parental empowerment and possible gender differences. RESULTS: Data were collected from the parents of 88 children. The mean age of the children was 3 years and 8 months, ranging from 1 year and 3 months to 6 years and 11 months. Parental empowerment in the family, in relation to service providers, and in the community was predicted by parenting stress, psychological distress, optimism, and quality of life. Fathers reported lower empowerment and higher levels of parenting stress compared with mothers. Mothers reported higher psychological distress compared with fathers. No differences between parents were found in optimism or quality of life. CONCLUSION: The study supports and accentuates the potential benefit of addressing personal psychological factors as a means of strengthening parental empowerment in interventions for families of preschool children with severe disabilities.