More positive or less negative? Trends in research on adjustment of families rearing children with developmental disabilities.

We reviewed family adjustment research over a 20-year period to determine whether it reflected less negative and/or more positive conceptions of families rearing children with developmental disabilities. Two judges, unaware of the purpose of the study, independently rated 60 articles, 20 from each of 3 time periods: 1971-1975, 1983, and 1993. Results indicated that although negativity declined from the 1970s to 1983, there was no concomitant increase in positivity. In our conclusion we emphasize that the changes were real, but small, and that most investigators still write about family adjustment in a predominantly negative tone.