Child Functioning and Caregiver Well-being in Families of Children with Emotional Disorders

Abstract

Early et al. / CHILD FUNCTIONING, CAREGIVER WELL-BEINGResearchers and practitioners concerned about children with emotional disorders and their families often try to understand the relationship between a child's condition and family functioning. Does some aspect of the caregiver affect the child's emotional and behavioral difficulties? Does the strain of caring for a child with such difficulties have an impact on parents? Does each affect the other in some reciprocal fashion? Previous research has often been limited by cross-sectional designs and study of unidirectional effects. This article attempts to advance the understanding of the interplay between children's functioning and caregivers' well-being in a longitudinal study of 164 families. Data are from two waves of a panel survey and are analyzed using structural equation modeling. Results indicate that caregivers and children do have effects on each other and that the effect of child functioning on caregiver well-being increases over time. Implications for further research and interventions are suggested.Research in children's mental health represents attempts to understand emotional and behavioral problems in children in order to aid in prevention and treatment efforts. The relationship between children's emotional disorders and family functioning is not conclusively understood, although it has been studied from a number of perspectives. Some attempts to understand children's problems have focused on presumed causes of the 374

Subjective Quality of Life for Parents of Children with Autism Spectrum Disorders in Croatia

“…In the process of deinstitutionalization of persons with intellectual disabilities, parents of children with ASD are a key factor in improving the functioning of their children (Early et al 2002;Turnbull et al 2004). According to the latest guidelines on therapy and rehabilitation of children with ASD (daily lifetime therapy), and from the standpoint of harmony in all life aspects of the child, parents assume a very important role in care and rearing (Welch 1997) and therefore they must have an adequate quality of life (Yau and Li-Tsang 1999).…”

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“…The emotional and coping reactions of parents or caregivers to their child's MH problems and diagnoses are of interest because these are tied to parent's own wellbeing as individuals, family relationships and children's outcomes (Early et al 2002;Oppenheim et al 2007). For instance, Oppenheim et al (2007) who studied the impact of ''diagnostic resolution'' among parents of children with autism spectrum disorders, found that mothers classified as resolved (meaning they have incorporated the experience of the child's diagnosis and reoriented their expectations) were also more sensitive to their children, and their children were more responsive to them.…”

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