The impact on mothers of bringing up a child with intellectual disabilities: A cross-cultural study

Background: Most research into the impact on mothers of having a child with an intellectual disability has been done in Western cultures. These mothers are at increased risk of stress, along with poorer health and weakened family relationships. Nurses are well placed to support these mothers.Objectives: (1) To describe across three different cultures—Irish, Taiwanese and Jordanian—the inter-relationships among three indicators of maternal well-being. (2) To identify the coping strategies of mothers and the professional and informal supports available to them. (3) To identify the variables that have a negative impact on maternal well-being and possible moderating influences on them.Design: A survey approach with three groups of self-selected mothers. Participants: The characteristics of the child determined the inclusion criteria; namely aged 5–18 years with a diagnosis of intellectual disability of such severity that the children attended special schools or centres. In each country, the special services within particular geographical areas were approached and all families known to them were given the opportunity to participate. In all 206 mothers agreed to participate.Methods: Mothers were interviewed individually at home or in the day centre attended by their child. They completed various rating scales of known reliability and validity. In addition they described in their own words, the impact the child had on their lives and how they coped.Results: In all three countries, mothers experienced poor mental health, increased levels of child-related stress and poorer family functioning which the qualitative data further illuminated. Their child’s behavior problems were a major factor in this. The impacts on mothers’ well-being were not alleviated by access to professional supports or use of coping strategies.Conclusions: Health professionals need to adopt family-centered approaches that embrace the support needs of mothers. Similar strategies would apply across all cultures although they must be responsive to individual need

STRmix™ collaborative exercise on DNA mixture interpretation

An intra and inter-laboratory study using the probabilistic genotyping (PG) software STRmix™ is reported. Two complex mixtures from the PROVEDIt set, analysed on an Applied Biosystems™ 3500 Series Genetic Analyzer, were selected. 174 participants responded. For Sample 1 (low template, in the order of 200 rfu for major contributors) five participants described the comparison as inconclusive with respect to the POI or excluded him. Where LRs were assigned, the point estimates ranging from 2 × 10 <sup>4</sup> to 8 × 10 <sup>6</sup> . For Sample 2 (in the order of 2000 rfu for major contributors), LRs ranged from 2 × 10 <sup>28</sup> to 2 × 10 <sup>29</sup> . Where LRs were calculated, the differences between participants can be attributed to (from largest to smallest impact): This study demonstrates a high level of repeatability and reproducibility among the participants. For those results that differed from the mode, the differences in LR were almost always minor or conservative