Background: Parents of children with developmental delays (DD) typically report elevated levels of parental stress compared with parents of typically developing children. Children with DD are also at high risk for exhibiting significant behaviour problems. Parental stress has been shown to impact the development of these behaviour problems;…

Background: The negative health impacts of prolonged caregiving are widely reported. However, there is a paucity of evidence concerning the impacts of a lifetime of caring on older parents of offspring with learning disabilities. Design and Methods: An exploratory postal survey including the Medical Outcome Study (Short Form) 36 version 2…

Aim: This study explores whether the desire to engage in work that is beneficial to others moderates the effects of stress on burnout. Method: Based on a survey of 1570 direct support professionals in Ontario, this study conducted linear regression analyses and tested for the interaction effects of prosocial motivation on occupational stress and…

Background: Interpersonal conflict is a source of stress and contributes to poor mental health in people with mild to moderate intellectual disabilities. Understanding the contexts in which conflict typically occurs can better equip services to help people with such difficulties. However, existing studies into the contexts of conflict have…

Background: The study assessed stress among mothers of young children with intellectual disabilities in urban India and examined the extent to which child functioning and maternal coping predict maternal stress. Through qualitative analyses, the study identified negative and positive dimensions of Indian mothers' caregiving experiences. Materials…

Background: Little is known of paid carers' perspectives when caring for people with intellectual disabilities at the end-of-life. Materials and methods: Sixty four individuals from intellectual disability services took part in 12 focus groups. Interviews were analysed using framework analysis. Results: Participants wanted to provide palliative…

Background: Respite or short breaks are frequently sought by parents and demand for them usually exceeds their availability. Methods: Using data from a national database in Ireland of around 16 000 persons living with family carers, the availability of overnight respite provision was monitored over an 8-year period along with the recorded needs…

Background: Previous research with mothers of children with intellectual disabilities has shown that psychological acceptance is related to maternal psychological well-being. The present research extended this line of enquiry to fathers and explored the potential for psychological acceptance to mediate the impact of children's behaviour problems…

Background: This study reports development of a social support scale appropriate to the Vietnamese culture and the impact of social support on mothers of children with cognitive delays by using the developing scale. Method: Interview surveys were conducted with 225 mothers of children with and without cognitive delays in Vietnam. The structural…

Background: The present study examined the positive experiences of parents raising school-aged children with autism within the context of parenting stress. Materials and Methods: Participants included 23 mother/father pairs raising children with autism (ages 5 to 11 years, M = 7.39). Parents completed measures of parenting stress and positive…

Background: For families of children diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) getting a diagnosis is a traumatic experience on which future care and education plans for the child depend. In this paper parental experiences of diagnosis and forward planning for children with ASD are reported. Method: This paper is part of a large…

Background: Staff in intellectual disability services can experience high levels of violence, which may lead to burnout. Staff burnout may result in poorer quality services. Previous research has suggested that factors such as fear of violence, self-efficacy and staff support moderate the impact of violence on burnout. Aims: The research explores…

Background: Staff in intellectual disability services can be at risk of stress and burnout at work. Given that staff well-being has implications for the quality of life of the staff themselves and people with intellectual disabilities themselves, this is an important research and practical topic. In this paper, we review work stress theories that…

Background: The study explores the experiences of parents of individuals with autistic spectrum disorders (ASDs), and examines the influences of parent gender and child age on perceived stress, stress and coping, child-rearing involvement, support and information/education accessed. Methods and Materials: Questionnaires assessed general perceived…

Background: Inclusion is one of four policies for people with disabilities in the UK. Criticisms of its three key attributes--mainstreaming, independent living and employment--are reviewed. Methods: This study of 28 young people, most with severe intellectual disabilities, investigated engagement with inclusion at their transition to adult…