“I struggle at times to see her struggle”: Mothers' perspectives on dyslexia-related school struggles and the inter-connected nature of mother and child well-being
Introduction: Parents of children with dyslexia may be at elevated risk for parenting stress and mental health concerns. Our aim was to explore the emotional experience of growing up with dyslexia in Australia from parents' perspectives. In so doing, we also developed an understanding of parent...
| Main Authors: | , , , , |
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| Format: | Journal Article |
| Language: | English |
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WILEY
2023
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| Online Access: | http://purl.org/au-research/grants/nhmrc/1173043 http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11937/93197 |
| _version_ | 1848765709276938240 |
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| author | Wilmot, Adrienne Pizzey, Hannah Leitão, Suze Hasking, Penelope Boyes, Mark |
| author_facet | Wilmot, Adrienne Pizzey, Hannah Leitão, Suze Hasking, Penelope Boyes, Mark |
| author_sort | Wilmot, Adrienne |
| building | Curtin Institutional Repository |
| collection | Online Access |
| description | Introduction: Parents of children with dyslexia may be at elevated risk for parenting stress and mental health concerns. Our aim was to explore the emotional experience of growing up with dyslexia in Australia from parents' perspectives. In so doing, we also developed an understanding of parents' own mental health and support needs informed by their lived experience. Methodology: Seventeen interviews with mothers of children (9–14 years; 16 with a diagnosis of dyslexia) were analysed using Braun and Clarke's reflexive thematic analysis approach. Analysis: Five themes were developed to address our aim: Theme 1: Years in the wilderness: Life before diagnosis; 2: “I struggle at times to see her struggle”; 3. School struggles: Advocating for our children and managing distress; 4. “It's a full-time job” and a “long slog”; 5: Care for the carer: Social support and coping strategies. Conclusions: Our analysis suggests that mothers of children with dyslexia may be at elevated risk for mental health concerns. Specifically, chronic worry and stress, secondary distress, challenges to parenting self-efficacy, and lack of support and understanding (feeling isolated) were highlighted as plausible risk factors. Mothers described coping strategies at the community level (e.g., school connectedness) and at the individual level (e.g., “acceptance”) as protective. |
| first_indexed | 2025-11-14T11:39:33Z |
| format | Journal Article |
| id | curtin-20.500.11937-93197 |
| institution | Curtin University Malaysia |
| institution_category | Local University |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2025-11-14T11:39:33Z |
| publishDate | 2023 |
| publisher | WILEY |
| recordtype | eprints |
| repository_type | Digital Repository |
| spelling | curtin-20.500.11937-931972023-10-05T02:51:24Z “I struggle at times to see her struggle”: Mothers' perspectives on dyslexia-related school struggles and the inter-connected nature of mother and child well-being Wilmot, Adrienne Pizzey, Hannah Leitão, Suze Hasking, Penelope Boyes, Mark Social Sciences Science & Technology Life Sciences & Biomedicine Education, Special Psychology, Educational Rehabilitation Education & Educational Research Psychology dyslexia mental health parent support parenting stress MENTAL-HEALTH READING DIFFICULTIES AUTISM IMPACT NEURODIVERSITY METAANALYSIS EXPERIENCES ACCEPTANCE DISORDERS PARENTS dyslexia mental health parent support parenting stress Female Child Humans Mothers Child Health Dyslexia Parents Adaptation, Psychological Parenting Humans Dyslexia Adaptation, Psychological Parenting Parents Mothers Child Female Child Health Introduction: Parents of children with dyslexia may be at elevated risk for parenting stress and mental health concerns. Our aim was to explore the emotional experience of growing up with dyslexia in Australia from parents' perspectives. In so doing, we also developed an understanding of parents' own mental health and support needs informed by their lived experience. Methodology: Seventeen interviews with mothers of children (9–14 years; 16 with a diagnosis of dyslexia) were analysed using Braun and Clarke's reflexive thematic analysis approach. Analysis: Five themes were developed to address our aim: Theme 1: Years in the wilderness: Life before diagnosis; 2: “I struggle at times to see her struggle”; 3. School struggles: Advocating for our children and managing distress; 4. “It's a full-time job” and a “long slog”; 5: Care for the carer: Social support and coping strategies. Conclusions: Our analysis suggests that mothers of children with dyslexia may be at elevated risk for mental health concerns. Specifically, chronic worry and stress, secondary distress, challenges to parenting self-efficacy, and lack of support and understanding (feeling isolated) were highlighted as plausible risk factors. Mothers described coping strategies at the community level (e.g., school connectedness) and at the individual level (e.g., “acceptance”) as protective. 2023 Journal Article http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11937/93197 10.1002/dys.1733 English http://purl.org/au-research/grants/nhmrc/1173043 http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/ WILEY fulltext |
| spellingShingle | Social Sciences Science & Technology Life Sciences & Biomedicine Education, Special Psychology, Educational Rehabilitation Education & Educational Research Psychology dyslexia mental health parent support parenting stress MENTAL-HEALTH READING DIFFICULTIES AUTISM IMPACT NEURODIVERSITY METAANALYSIS EXPERIENCES ACCEPTANCE DISORDERS PARENTS dyslexia mental health parent support parenting stress Female Child Humans Mothers Child Health Dyslexia Parents Adaptation, Psychological Parenting Humans Dyslexia Adaptation, Psychological Parenting Parents Mothers Child Female Child Health Wilmot, Adrienne Pizzey, Hannah Leitão, Suze Hasking, Penelope Boyes, Mark “I struggle at times to see her struggle”: Mothers' perspectives on dyslexia-related school struggles and the inter-connected nature of mother and child well-being |
| title | “I struggle at times to see her struggle”: Mothers' perspectives on dyslexia-related school struggles and the inter-connected nature of mother and child well-being |
| title_full | “I struggle at times to see her struggle”: Mothers' perspectives on dyslexia-related school struggles and the inter-connected nature of mother and child well-being |
| title_fullStr | “I struggle at times to see her struggle”: Mothers' perspectives on dyslexia-related school struggles and the inter-connected nature of mother and child well-being |
| title_full_unstemmed | “I struggle at times to see her struggle”: Mothers' perspectives on dyslexia-related school struggles and the inter-connected nature of mother and child well-being |
| title_short | “I struggle at times to see her struggle”: Mothers' perspectives on dyslexia-related school struggles and the inter-connected nature of mother and child well-being |
| title_sort | “i struggle at times to see her struggle”: mothers' perspectives on dyslexia-related school struggles and the inter-connected nature of mother and child well-being |
| topic | Social Sciences Science & Technology Life Sciences & Biomedicine Education, Special Psychology, Educational Rehabilitation Education & Educational Research Psychology dyslexia mental health parent support parenting stress MENTAL-HEALTH READING DIFFICULTIES AUTISM IMPACT NEURODIVERSITY METAANALYSIS EXPERIENCES ACCEPTANCE DISORDERS PARENTS dyslexia mental health parent support parenting stress Female Child Humans Mothers Child Health Dyslexia Parents Adaptation, Psychological Parenting Humans Dyslexia Adaptation, Psychological Parenting Parents Mothers Child Female Child Health |
| url | http://purl.org/au-research/grants/nhmrc/1173043 http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11937/93197 |