Using Common Determinants of Out-of-Home Care to Profile Parents of Children and Adolescents with a Disability: an Exploratory Study

Objectives: This study examined whether interrelationships between common psychosocial determinants of parental decisions to seek out-of-home care can identify parent profiles within a sample of parents of children and adolescents with a disability. Method: Two hundred and sixteen parents completed a questionnaire containing measures of nine commonly reported psychosocial determinants of out-of-home care (e.g. child behaviour and support needs; parent hassles, mental health and coping). Result: K-means cluster analysis revealed four parent profiles. The ‘parents with significant parenting stressors and demands’ resemble parents who have sought out-of-home care in the past (e.g. children/adolescents with high support needs and poor psychosocial adjustment). In contrast, the ‘parents with low parenting stressors and demands’ display positive psychosocial adjustment to the parenting role. The ‘parents with parenting resilience’ exhibit positive psychosocial adjustment to the difficult parenting circumstances they are experiencing. In contrast, the ‘parents with psychosocial adjustment difficulties’ show negative psychosocial adjustment despite the absence of difficult parenting circumstances. Conclusion: Psychosocial factors related to out-of-home care can meaningfully distinguish parents raising children and adolescents with a disability from one another. With further validation, the profiles uncovered within this study could inform service responses to build parenting capacity, and mitigate risk of seeking out-of-home care.