programs would be particularly beneficial to
mothers. Although concrete services are
beneficial to families, they are often underfunded
and difficult for families to access.
Clinicians can assist families by advocating
that they get adequate services.
Future Directions
This review of literature points to several
future directions for both researchers and
practitioners. First, it points to the need for
more research into the impact of caregivers
positive perceptions of their child with a
disability. While we know that family
members have positive perceptions, we do
not know what types of positive perceptions
improve family coping. More information
about the benefits of positive perceptions
would assist practitioners, particularly those
who employ cognitive-behavioral
interventions with caregivers. This line of
research could also clarify whether positive
perceptions differ for mothers versus fathers
and whether gender moderates the relationship
between positive perceptions and parental
coping. Research on this topic might also
clarify whether different interventions are
needed for mothers versus fathers.
We need more research into the cultural
competency of our interventions with parents
of children with disabilities. Although we
know that families differ across cultures, little
research has examined the cultural competency
of interventions. In particular, studies of
interventions that address needs of specific
ethnic or cultural groups would be a much
needed addition to the literature. In addition,
future research could examine whether the
cultural competency of practitioners improves
family and child outcomes.
Additional research is also needed into
interventions with grandparent caregivers. It
is difficult to draw full and valid conclusions
due to the limitations of the research. Similar
to the parent research, most of the studies