The Role of Mental Health of Mothers of Children With Learning Disabilities in the Relationship Between Parental Stress, Mother-child Interaction, and Children’s Behavioral Disorders

Background: Behavioral problems are common in childhood, presenting debilitating conditions that cause numerous difficulties for the affected children and their families. The present study aimed to investigate the relationship between parental stress and mother-child interaction, and children’s behavioral disorders with the mediating role of mental health in the mothers of children with learning disabilities. Methods: The research population of this descriptive-correlational study consisted of the mothers of all students with learning disabilities in Adnimeshk City, Iran, in 2020. Applying the convenience sampling method, 210 students were selected as the study sample. The research instruments included the Child Behavior Checklist, the Parental Stress Scale, the Child-Parent Relationship Scale, and the Mental Health Questionnaire. The proposed model was evaluated using path analysis in AMOS v. 24. Results: The obtained results indicated a direct and significant relationship between parental stress and children’s behavioral disorders (β=0.321, P=0.0001), as well as mother-child interaction and mothers’ mental health (β=0.255, P=0.001). There was a negative relationship between mother-child interaction and children’s behavioral disorders (β=-0.148, P=0.019), as well as parental stress and mothers’ mental health (β=-0.581, P=0.0001). Furthermore, the collected results presented a reverse and significant relationship between mothers’ mental health and children’s behavioral disorders (β=-0.360, P=0.0001). The indirect path analysis data revealed that mothers’ mental health played a mediating role in the relationship between parental stress, mother-child interaction, and children’s behavioral disorders (P=0.001). Conclusion: According to the present research results, the model proposed in this study was favorably fitted; thus, it can be considered as an important step in identifying the factors affecting behavioral disorders in students with learning disabilities.