title: Socio-economic position, household composition, health status and indicators of the well-being of mothers of children with and without intellectual disabilities.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Many previous studies have reported that mothers of children with intellectual disabilities (IDs) are more likely to show signs of psychological distress and have lower well-being than mothers of 'typically developing' children. Our aim was to estimate the extent to which these differences may be accounted for by between-group differences in socio-economic position.
  
  
  METHODS
  This study involved secondary analysis of happiness, self-esteem and self-efficacy variables in a nationally representative sample of 6954 British mothers with dependent children under the age of 17 years, 514 of whom were supporting a child with an ID.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Mothers of children with IDs reported lower levels of happiness, self-esteem and self-efficacy than mothers of children without IDs. Statistically controlling for differences in socio-economic position, household composition and maternal characteristics fully accounted for the between-group differences in maternal happiness, and accounted for over 50% of the elevated risk for poorer self-esteem and self-efficacy.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  A socially and statistically significant proportion of the increased risk of poorer well-being among mothers of children with IDs may be attributed to their increased risk of socio-economic disadvantage.
authors.affiliation: Lancaster University, Lancaster, UK. eric.emerson@lancaster.ac.uk
authors.forename: E
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Emerson
authors.forename: C
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Hatton
authors.forename: G
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Llewellyn
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Blacher
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Blacker
authors.forename: H
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Graham
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D019988:Children with Disabilities; D005191:Family Characteristics; D005260:Female; D006304:Health Status; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D008607:Intellectual Disability / Q000453:epidemiology*; D008297:Male; D009035:Mothers / Q000523:psychology* / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D015995:Prevalence; D011788:Quality of Life / Q000523:psychology*; D012649:Self Concept; D012959:Socioeconomic Factors; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires