Qualidade Conjugal em Mães de Crianças com e sem Deficiência

Abstract

The arrival of a child with a disability in the family promotes many changes and adaptations in all members, especially in the couple. The marital quality of parents of children with disabilities has been investigated in the literature, but there is no consensus on the effects, with studies indicating both positive and negative effects, while others report no effects. Therefore, this Doctoral Thesis aimed to investigate marital quality in mothers of children with and without disabilities and is composed of 3 independent studies. Study 1 corresponds to an integrative review of the literature, which sought to carry out survey and characterize quantitative instruments for assessing marital quality in parents of children with disabilities. The main dimensions investigated by the instruments were adjustment, satisfaction and dyadic coping. Study 2 is a quantitative and comparative empirical study that aimed to correlate marital quality (through the variables dyadic adjustment, marital satisfaction, dyadic coping and empathy in the couple) of mothers of children with and without disabilities with the child's adaptive behavior. As a result, few correlations were identified between the variables, indicating that marital quality is not directly influenced by the child's disability condition. Study 3 also presents a quantitative and comparative approach, whose objective was to correlate the marital quality of mothers of children with and without disabilities. The results indicated few significant correlations between the groups, which may represent that mothers of children with disabilities evaluated positively the marital relationship even in the face of adversity.