Midlife and Aging Parents of Adults with Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities: Impacts of Lifelong Parenting

Using population data, this study included parents of individuals with intellectual and developmental disabilities (n = 220) and parents of individuals without disabilities (n = 1,042). Parents of individuals with intellectual and developmental disabilities were further divided into those who co-resided with their adult child and those whose adult child lived elsewhere, and the 3 groups were compared regarding parental patterns of attainment, social participation, psychological functioning, and health in midlife and early old age. In midlife, parents of individuals with intellectual and developmental disabilities were similar in general to comparison parents. However, by early old age, these parents had poorer health and mental health. Co-residence between the adult with intellectual and developmental disabilities and the parent was prevalent during midlife (51.4%) and in the early years of old age (38.6%), and there were different patterns of parental outcomes, depending on the residential status of the adult with intellectual and developmental disabilities.