Ego-resiliency and parental satisfaction among parents of children with down syndrome

Abstract

Parents of children with Down syndrome face many challenges related to their children’s disability. They manage to raise their children primarily thanks to their internal resources, protective psychological traits and help from other people. The aim of this study was to investigate the level of ego-resiliency as an important personality trait in a group of mothers and fathers of children with Down syndrome. The relationship between ego-resiliency and parental satisfaction was also studied. The sample consisted of 126 parents (75 mothers and 51 fathers). Our results show that there is no difference in the level of ego-resiliency between mothers and fathers of children with Down syndrome. Nevertheless, it is noticed that there is a difference in perceived stress, psychological well-being and some aspects of parental satisfaction between parents with high and low levels of ego-resiliency. These results give an interesting insight into the internal func­tioning of parents of children with Down syndrome.