Cofactors Associated with Emotional Difficulties in Fathers and Mothers of People with Down Syndrome in the Dominican Republic

Abstract

Factors associated with emotional difficulties in fathers (n = 28) and mothers (n = 172) with children diagnosed with Down Syndrome (D.S.). Three instruments were utilized: Symptom Checklist-Revised (SCL-90-R), Myers-Briggs Types Indicators (MBTI), and the Questionnaire for Parents with Persons with Down Syndrome (CPM-SD). The main emotional difficulties were sadness, hostility and fear, regardless of the stage of development in which the diagnosis of DS occurred and generated by the high cost of medications, absent of measures by the State that favor families, lack of opportunities for education and lack of well-paid work. The mothers showed higher levels of sadness than the father, and they higher acceptance and fear. Personality types share two (2) traits: focus on facts, details, and a tendency to plan, organize, make decisions, and reach conclusions.