Caring kraaij, garnefski, 2009). pisula (2007) states that

Caring for a child with disability can be for its parents a source of a better understanding of the sense of life and paying attention to basic human values like love, friendship and kindness. The way in which parents of ill children perceive their own situation influences their well-being. The mothers and fathers of children with disabilities who are able to notice and appreciate the positive aspects of their situation experience more pleasant feelings than the parents who tend to focus on the negative aspects of their child’s disability (Veek, van der, Kraaij, Garnefski, 2009). Pisula (2007) states that there is a connection between parents’ psychological well-being and their strategies of coping with stress.

Mothers who reported being more optimistic had better health than those who were less optimistic (Greenberg, Wyngaarden-Kraus, Mailick-Seltzer, Chou, Hong, 2004). The psychological well-being of mothers raising a child with a developmental disability varies according to the nature of the disability. Offspring’s behavior problems are considered to be the child characteristic that most affects the maternal well-being (Blacher, McIntyre, 2006). The majority of research has been focused on Down syndrome.

Quantitative and qualitative evidence indicates that parental well-being is influenced by having a child with Down syndrome. Parents very often take care of their children throughout their whole life (Crowe, Florez, 2006). It is, therefore, not surprising that raising a child with this syndrome has been found to be connected with higher levels of parental stress and reduced well-being among parents (D? browska, Pisula, 2010). They were also less content with their health, financial, social and occupational position than parents who raise children without developmental disorders (Brown, MacAdam-Crisp, Wang, Iarocci, 2006). However, there are parents that experience positive adaptation and are able to be resilient despite the risk that occurs. Brown et al. (2006) proved that parents of children with Down syndrome estimated their family life quality better than parents who raise children with autism.

Children with Down syndrome and their mothers have more positive interactions than children with other developmental disabilities (Mitchell, Hauser-Cram, Crossman, 2015). Many studies have also reported that these parents experienced a lower level of stress and a higher level of satisfaction from received support and had a more optimistic view of their children’s future than parents who raise children with other types of disability (Zas? pa, 2008). Luthar and Cicchetti (2000) claim that there are both “ vulnerability factors” and “ protective factors” that influence one’s ability to be resilient. Although there are a lot of external factors which burden parents, like the child’s health problems or lack of social support (Bruns, Foerster, 2011; Cumella, Heslam, 2013), many findings indicate that they have internal resources allowing them to see the positive dimensions of raising a child with disability (King, Zwaigenbaum, Bates, Baxter, Rosenbaum, 2011).

External locus of control (Lloyd, Hastings, 2009), dispositional optimism (Greenberg et al., 2004) and contentment of one’s own coping strategies (Veek, van der, 2009) are considered as important protection against depressive symptoms and declining psychological well-being. There is also one other construct, ego-resiliency, which can be useful when we consider the situation of parents who face difficulties. Block and Kremen (1996) define ego-resiliency as a trait that allows individuals to cope well and have control when circumstances are changing. It allows for adapting to daily activities as well as determines functioning in traumatic situations (S? k, 2008). Some authors suggest that raising a child with disabilities is a source of processes which refer to resilience and in this way parents are able to reappraise their situation positively (King et al., 2011).

Based on the relevant literature, we assume that ego-resiliency can play a mediating role between perceived stress and psychological well-being among parents who raise children with Down syndrome. We also put forward a hypothesis that there is a difference in psychological well-being between parents who describe their parenthood in different ways. The following research questions are posed: