Perceived Social Support Among Parents and Exploration of Challenges Faced by Single Mothers of Children with Neurodevelopmental Disorders-A Mixed Method Study.

Abstract

Background: Amidst the caregiving stressors that primary carers experience while providing care for their child with a neurodevelopmental disorder (NDD), the perception of having family, friends and significant others to support and navigate difficult situations would enable the carers to cope effectively during caregiving. Among a couple, raising a child with special needs, it is imperative to have spousal support that helps in navigating through the marital relationship.

Purpose: Oftentimes, when a child with a disability is born into a family, due to a lack of readiness and mutual support among the spouses, it results in marital and familial conflicts leading to divorce or separation. Thus, the study attempts to explore the perceived social support among the parents of children with NDDs and delve deeper into the narratives of single mothers, either divorced or physically separated, and the challenges that they experience in providing care for their children in the absence of spousal support.

Method: One-hundred fifty parents (99 mothers and 51 fathers) were administered the Multidimensional Scale of Perceived Social Support Scale (MSPSS) to assess the perceived social support followed by an interview of 12 single mothers to gain insights into the lived experiences and challenges faced by single mothers while providing prolonged care for children with NDDs.

Results: There exists no significant difference between perceived social support and sociodemographic profiles of parents such as gender, age, family types, occupation, hours spent providing care and primary diagnosis of the child. The findings indicate that all single parents were mothers and themes such as sole parental responsibilities, lack of support from spouse and in-laws, poor physical and mental health and lack of marital stability emerged from the interview deciphering challenges experienced as a single mother.

Conclusion: The study highlights the importance of implementing effective policies that support single mothers who are divorced, abandoned or separated while providing care for their child with a disability.