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Aims: Parents of children with intellectual and developmental disabilities tend to illustrate and report higher levels of stress and lower wellbeing than parents of typically developing children. This thesis aimed to explore the aspects of this relationship between parental wellbeing and raising a child with heterogeneous intellectual and developmental disability. Firstly, the thesis aimed to review the current literature and evidence base for mindfulness-based group and individual interventions and their effect on psychological outcomes for parents of children with intellectual and developmental disabilities. Secondly, a research study aimed to explore the role of overall parental locus of control and particular sub-domains of locus of control on parent reported wellbeing. Furthermore, the role of child compliant and social behaviour, child problem behaviour, diagnostic groups, level of functioning, and demographic variables were explored. Method: A systematic review of the literature was conducted to address the first aim of this thesis. Within the research study, a single sample of parents and family carers (n = 114) completed an online anonymous survey consisting of demographic information and three self-report measures; a modified version of the Parental Locus of Control Scale, the Warwick-Edinburgh Mental Wellbeing Scale, and the Nisonger Child Behaviour Rating Form. Results: The systematic review illustrated that mindfulness-based interventions appear to have a significant effect on a number of parent psychological outcomes; such as wellbeing, stress, mental health, compassion, and mindfulness. A further four papers indicated a significant impact on child behavioural outcomes from parental mindfulness interventions. The research study indicated parental locus of control, in particular the two sub-domains of child control, and parent efficacy significantly mediated the relationship between child problem behaviour and parental wellbeing. Conclusions: There is a need to further explore the effectiveness of mindfulness interventions on parental distress and child behaviour, in particular in comparison to well-established interventions and groups. The research study results highlight the importance of parental attributions in influencing the wellbeing of parents of children with intellectual and developmental disabilities. However, it is clear from these findings that there is a complex relationship between parent cognitive attributions and broader social and societal factors. These findings may inform future practice with these families, although further research to explore these complex relationships is required.

Background: Support for the four factor construct validity of the third edition of the Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale (WAIS-III) has been found in clinical and non clinical populations but some studies question whether more complex models consistent with the concepts of fluid and crystallised intelligence provide a better explanation of the data. The WAIS-III is frequently used in the diagnosis of learning disability, however, previous exploratory factor analysis of data from a population with low IQ did not support the explicit four factor structure of the WAIS-III. Method: A confirmatory factor analysis of the WAIS-III was carried out on data from people with severe and significant learning disability and people with borderline IQ (IQ = 70-79). Results: The data from the borderline IQ sample and the sample with significant learning disability showed at best a weak fit to the explicit four factor models and more complex five or six factor models. However fit of the data from the sample with severe learning disability was poor for all models. Discussion: The findings show little support for the explicit four factor construct validity of the WAIS-III for people with borderline IQ or significant or severe intellectual impairment. Some support is found for the direction taken by the new Wechsler children’s and adult scales (WISC-IV & WAIS-IV) in aligning interpretation of the scales more closely to concepts such as fluid and crystallised theory. The research also suggests the cut-off point of IQ 70 is not reflective of an actual difference in cognitive profile as measured by the WAIS-III. Limitations of this study and implications for further research are also discussed.