other studies indicate that it may not be the diagnosis but rather the child characteristics association with the diagnosis that are the key predictors of negative family impact when controlling for behavioral problems baker blacher and olsson found no differences in depression well-being and marital adjustment for family with and without children with disabilities in addition to this comparative study many non-comparative studies have noted poorer family outcomes associated with child behavior problems child maladptive behavior has been association with increases burden and stress poorer parent efficacy poorer parent mental health and poorer marital adjustment these findings have important implication for practitioners working in behavioral intervention as they suggest that improvements in the child
behavior may lead to decreased parent stress and improved parent mental health