Family quality of life among Taiwanese children with developmental delay before and after early intervention.
Early intervention lifts family quality of life fastest by six months, but caregivers without jobs or strong marriages lose steam—so pair child goals with caregiver support.
01Research in Context
What this study did
S-Anthony et al. (2020) followed families of Taiwanese children with developmental delay.
They checked family quality of life before early intervention started, then again at 6 and 12 months.
No random assignment—families simply stayed in their usual early-intervention program.
What they found
Family quality of life jumped highest at 6 months and stayed above the starting point at 12 months.
Gains were smaller for families with an unemployed caregiver, poor marital quality, or low resilience.
How this fits with other research
Mas et al. (2019) showed family-centered practices lift parent well-being in Spain; the Taiwanese data now show the same upward curve measured over time.
Losada-Puente et al. (2022) found families of children with ASD feel bigger gaps between what they want and what they get than families of children with other delays. S-Anthony et al. (2020) agree—families with extra stressors need more than standard child-focused services.
Ozturk et al. (2016) linked child communication gains to lower maternal distress. The Taiwanese study widens the lens: child services help, but caregiver job status and couple happiness decide whether the boost lasts.
Why it matters
You can tell parents to expect the biggest family-life lift around six months, then screen for caregiver unemployment, marital strain, or low resilience. Add couples check-ins, job resources, or brief mindfulness groups to keep the early-intervention payoff rolling past the first year.
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02At a glance
03Original abstract
BACKGROUND: Although early intervention (EI) practitioners emphasise the importance of individualised family-centred services for families of children with developmental delay (DD), few empirical studies have evaluated whether EI can improve family quality of life (FQOL). This study aimed to investigate the trajectory of FQOL and its predictors among families of children with DD during the first 12 months of EI. METHODS: This study employed a prospective cohort design. Data were collected using structured questionnaires at the placement meeting before the commencement of EI, as well as 3, 6 and 12 months later. We recruited 142 primary caregivers of children with DD in northern Taiwan from March 2015 to August 2016. FQOL was measured using the Mandarin Chinese version of the Beach Centre FQOL Scale. Family resilience (FR) was measured using the Mandarin Chinese version of the FR Assessment Scale. Other independent variables included socio-demographics, type of DD and EI services. Generalised estimating equations were used to perform multivariate analysis. RESULTS: Family quality of life exhibited a significant quadratic trend in the 12 months surrounding EI. The score was the lowest before EI started (89.85), then increased to peak (94.87) at 6 months and then decreased slightly to 92.34 at 12 months. FR followed a significantly increased linear trend during the period. There were significant and positive correlations between FQOL and FR across all time points. Multivariate analysis showed that employed caregivers, FR, sufficient caregiving manpower and satisfaction with marital quality were positively associated with FQOL. Receiving more types of EI services and having fathers who were not Taiwanese nationals were negatively associated with FQOL. CONCLUSIONS: Family quality of life and FR increased significantly after receiving EI, revealing the latter's effectiveness. Unemployment, poor marital quality, father being an immigrant, low FR and insufficient family caregiving manpower were associated with lower FQOL, suggesting that these families require more assistance.
Journal of intellectual disability research : JIDR, 2020 · doi:10.1111/jir.12754