Date of Award

5-2023

Document Type

Project

Degree Name

Master of Social Work

Department

School of Social Work

First Reader/Committee Chair

McAllister, Carolyn

Abstract

Parent-child attachment is a commonly researched topic, but parent-child attachment when a child has a disability has received limited attention in the literature. This study seeks to examine the impact of parenting a child with a disability on parent-child attachment. This study was conducted on a Facebook forum that posts about parenting with children who have developmental disabilities.

This research study used a variety of methods and procedures. First, this study was conducted using quantitative methods. The research used a self-administered survey on the platform SurveyMonkey. The study used snowball sampling to recruit participants. To analyze the data, descriptive and bivariate statistics were conducted. This research was limited in its sample size which limits its generalizability for the whole population. Further research will need to be done with a larger sample size and possibly with specific developmental disabilities.

This study could have an impact on the micro and macro social work field. On the micro level, this research could promote a greater understanding of parent-child attachment when parenting a child with a disability, which could help influence attachment-based interventions for disabled children. On the macro level, policy changes could be enacted to promote parents being a more active part of their child’s therapies.

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