Well-being, involvement in paid work and division of child-care in parents of children with intellectual disabilities in Sweden

Background The aim of the study was to compare mothers' and fathers' involvement in paid work and child-care in families of children with intellectual disability (ID) and control families and to test if differences in well-being between mothers and fathers of children with ID can be explained by differences in involvement in paid work and child-care. Methods Mothers and fathers of 179 children with ID and 196 typically developing children answered mailed surveys on their involvement in paid work, child-care tasks and well-being. Only two-parent families were included. Results The results show main effects for gender of the parent and presence of a child with ID on involvement in paid work and well-being. Interaction effects indicate that mothers of children with ID are more affected than fathers in their participation in paid work and well-being. A positive relation between level of participation in paid work and well-being was found for both mothers and fathers. No difference in division of child-care tasks was found between families of children with ID and control families. Differences in involvement in paid work and child-care in families of children with ID only explained 5% of the variance in the difference between mothers' and fathers' well-being. Conclusions Families with children with ID differ from control families in that the parents are less involved in paid work and have lower levels of well-being. A positive relation between involvement in paid work and well-being was found.