Korean parents of a child with developmental disabilities: a survey of child behavior, parenting and family relationships, and parenting program preferences

Abstract

This study surveyed 149 Korean families of a 2-10-year-old child with a developmental disability (DD). Parents were asked about their child’s behavior problems, parenting practices, parenting confidence, parental adjustment, family relationships, and their parenting program preferences. The majority of parents had low levels of parenting and family relationships problems, however one third of children had behavioral and emotional problems in the clinical range. Parents of a child with high levels of problems used more dysfunctional parenting practices, and had higher levels of parental maladjustment, family relationship and parental teamwork problems. Sixty-four percent of parents had never participated in a parenting program, due to reasons such as a lack of childcare, time constraints, or lack of awareness. Parents reported that they were likely to participate in a parenting program in the future, and showed strong preferences for individually tailored programs, home visits and group programs. Having trained practitioners, an evidence-based program and a convenient location were important factors in a decision to attend a program. Findings suggest that Korean parents of a child with a DD may benefit from participating in a targeted parenting program aimed at reducing child behavioral and emotional problems.