Mediating Role of Social Health in the Relationship of Parenting Stress and Child-parent Interaction with Health-related Quality of Life in Parents of Children with Specific Learning Disorder

Background: Health-related quality of life (HRQOL) can predict the amount and impact of the disease, damages, and inabilities; moreover, it can assess an individual’s psychological health. Objectives: The present study aimed to assess the mediating role of social health in the relationship of parenting stress and child-parent interaction with HRQOL in parents of children with a specific learning disorder (SLD). Methods: This descriptive-correlational study was conducted using path analysis. The study population comprised all parents of children with SLD in Andimeshk in 2020-21, among whom 174 parents were selected via convenience sampling. The research instruments included the SF-36 Questionnaire (Weber, 1992), Parenting Stress Index (Abidin, 1992), Child-Parent Relationship Scale (Pianta, 1994), and Keyes’s Social Health Questionnaire (Keyes, 1998). The proposed model was evaluated using path analysis with AMOS software (version 25). Results: The results pointed to a significant relationship between child-parent interaction and HRQOL (β=0.204, P=0.004), social health and HRQOL (β=0.383, P 0.001), parenting stress and social health (β=-0.561, P 0.001), as well as child-parent interaction and social life (β=0.152, P=0.016). Furthermore, the indirect paths of parenting stress and HRQOL mediated by social health (P 0.001), as well as the relationship between child-parent interaction and the HRQOL mediated by social health (P=0.021), were all significant. Conclusion: The final model achieved a desirable good fit; therefore, this model could be considered an important step in understanding effective factors in the HRQOL in parents of children with SLD.