Family adjustment to childhood developmental disability: a measure of parent appraisal of family impacts.

Objective: To develop the Family Impact of Childhood Disability Scale (FICD) to assess subjective interpretation or "primary appraisal" of parents regarding the impact of a child with developmental disabilities on the family.

Method: A random sample of 87 families was assessed while children with developmental disabilities were in the preschool years. After 7 years had elapsed, 64 of these families were interviewed again when the children were in the preteen years. A set of standardized self-report measures provided mother and father views of child, parent, and family functioning.

Results: The FICD demonstrated adequate internal consistency, with some evidence of discriminant and predictive validity. The FICD total score, based on the discrepancy between positive and negative subscale scores, was found to be a significant predictor of future parenting stress of mothers and of fathers, even when controlling for other important explanatory variables such as marital adjustment and level of disability in a child.

Conclusions: The 15-item FICD offers a brief assessment of both positive and negative parent appraisals, with a total discrepancy score that predicts long-term parenting stress.