Rearing styles and psychopathology in children and adolescents with intellectual disability from Chile and Spain

Abstract

The aims of our study were: a) to evaluate how parenting styles vary according to the presence of intellectual disability (ID) and between two cultures – Chile and Spain –; and to value their association with psychopathology. Participants were 236 children and adolescents aged 8-14, who were classified in the following three groups according to the type of ID: with Down syndrome (DS), idiopathic intellectual disability (IID) or without disability. Parents answered a questionnaire on perceived rearing style and psychopathology. Our results showed that in Chile DS group perceived less overprotection. Clinical scores were associated with overprotection, rejection and the presence of ID. Moreover, the Chilean participants reported more depression and somatisation than the Spanish participants. We expect our findings will contribute to the prevention and intervention of unfavourable rearing styles and psychopathology in ID.