Stress mindset relates to better mental health in parents of children with special needs: A path analysis study

Abstract

Parents of children with special needs commonly encounter obstacles to effectively support their child's academic and social–emotional development. Despite the difficulties in parenting children with diverse types of exceptionalities, there has been scant research on psychological resources that can promote their mental health functioning. This research explores the direct and indirect (via perceived social support to different social partners and generalized self-efficacy) associations of stress mindset with mental health problems and parental stress in 253 parents of children with special needs via a cross-sectional design. A survey measuring stress mindset, perceived social support, generalized self-efficacy, parental stress and mental health problems was administered. The results demonstrated that stress-is-enhancing mindset was linked to milder mental health problems and parental stress via its positive associations with generalized self-efficacy and perceived social support. This research coheres with existing evidence on how stress-is-enhancing mindset in specific domains facilitates optimal psychological outcomes, especially in challenging family contexts.