The positive psychology constructs of parents of children with intellectual and developmental disabilities in Turkey.
Parent well-being and optimism drive most of the difference in how families of kids with IDD feel about life.
01Research in Context
What this study did
Researchers gave a survey to Turkish parents who have a child with intellectual or developmental disabilities.
They asked about personal well-being, optimism, life satisfaction, and family quality of life.
What they found
Parents who scored high on well-being and optimism also reported better family life.
These positive traits explained 60 percent of the differences in family quality of life.
How this fits with other research
Tassé et al. (2013) tracked families for 22 years and saw that parents with better mental health had adult children with Down syndrome who showed slower cognitive decline. The new survey lines up: parent wellness matters long-term.
Staats et al. (2000) used the same survey style and found that mothers felt less isolated after their toddlers joined a therapeutic class. Both studies show parent well-being can improve when services are in place.
Hinton et al. (2017) ran a telehealth parent-training trial and cut child behavior problems. The Turkish study does not test an intervention, but together they suggest boosting parent skills and parent mood could be a two-for-one deal.
Why it matters
If 60 percent of family life quality rides on parent outlook, you have a big lever. Start sessions by checking parent stress, optimism, and life satisfaction. A five-minute mood rating or a simple referral for counseling could do more for the whole family than extra drill trials. When you write goals, add a parent well-being target right next to the child’s behavior target.
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02At a glance
03Original abstract
BACKGROUND: The purpose of this exploratory study was to examine positive psychology constructs (life orientation/optimism, life satisfaction, happiness, psychological well-being and personal well-being) that may predict the family quality of life (FQOL) of parents of children with intellectual and developmental disabilities (IDD) in Turkey. METHODS: Data were obtained from a convenience sample of 660 parents of children with IDD who responded to six assessments, including a measure of FQOL. An analysis using stepwise multiple regression was conducted to identify predictors of FQOL as rated by parents. RESULTS: The four constructs including personal well-being, psychological well-being, life orientation (optimism) and life satisfaction significantly explained 60% of the total variance of FQOL. The amount of explained variance, beta scores and correlations suggests that these positive psychology constructs are significant predictors of FQOL of parents of children with IDD in Turkey. CONCLUSION: The study findings suggested that positive psychological constructs at the individual level were positively related to FQOL at the group level. Personal well-being was the strongest predictor of FOQL of parents who have children with IDD in Turkey. The results also indicated that other constructs including psychological well-being, an optimistic life orientation and life satisfaction contribute significantly to the FQOL of parents of children with IDD.
Journal of intellectual disability research : JIDR, 2021 · doi:10.1111/jir.12839