Gaining super control: Psychoeducational group intervention for adolescents with mild intellectual disability and their parents

Abstract

Adolescents with intellectual disability experience psychological and social challenges in their transition to adulthood. Knowledge about the diagnosis and insight into own strengths and difficulties can help them manage the limitations and barriers they face, but suitable interventions with this purpose are scarce. The present paper presents a psychoeducational group intervention, The Super Control Project, for adolescents (15–17 years old) with mild intellectual disability (n = 23) and their parents. In a pre-post design, adolescent outcome data was obtained through teacher and parent questionnaires, and interviews with the adolescents. Parents and adolescents also evaluated the interventions’ usefulness. Results indicated positive impact on participants’ understanding of the diagnosis, managing of everyday challenges, and social networking. The intervention seemed to fit the participants’ needs and abilities. The study encourages further implementation and rigorous evaluation.

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“…After obtaining psychoeducation family therapy, the stress of the mother in caring for an intellectual disability child experienced a significant decrease (p-value < 0.05). The results of this study are similar to those of previous research [31][32][33][34], stating that family psychoeducation therapy is significantly able to reduce the stress of parents in parenting children who have a positive impact on the interaction between mother and child. The provision of family psychoeducation therapy after being given nursing intervention turned out to provide a greater increase compared with performing the nursing intervention.…”

Exploring information needs among family caregivers of children with intellectual disability in a rural area of South Africa: a qualitative study

“…It is noteworthy that parents’ understanding of the capacity to care for children with ID is assessed based on their responses to the needs of such children [ 15 ]. Previous studies highlighted how the families were more reactive than proactive regarding caring for their children with ID, leading to social exclusion by their communities [ 16 ]. Although the need for training of parents raising children with ID has broadly been investigated successfully [ 17 ], exploring information needs on the care of ID among primary caregivers in rural areas has yet to be fully established.…”

Exploring the Potential Impact of Training on Short-Term Quality of Life and Stress of Parents of Children with Autism: The Integrative Parents’ Autism Training Module

“…Over the last 15 years, the socioeconomic status of the parents has been found to be associated to some extent with parental and family stress [19]. Effective coping strategies include creating a strong social support system, which enhances resilience and improves well-being, and redefining and restructuring the experience of raising a child with autism, so it is conceived as an advantageous experience [20].…”

“…The World Health Organization defines quality of life as an "Individuals' perceptions of their position in life in the context of the culture and value systems in which they live and in relation to their goals, expectations, standards, and concerns" [22] (p. 551). The level of QoL is linked to the resources available and issues of self-determination, purpose in life, and sense of belonging [16,23]; its concept is broad and encompasses a combination of physical and psychological health, personal independence and relationships, as well as firmly held views and judgments, along with the way all of these affect the individual's interaction with their environment [20]. Caring for a child with ASD lowers the parents' quality of life, as compared to parents of typically developing children or to parents of children with other disabilities [24].…”

“…Therefore, it is essential to create and enhance intervention and support services for parents of autistic children in order to improve their quality of life [26]. Furthermore, their quality of life is worth investigating, since it is pivotal in developing improved interventions and support services to aid parents in maintaining both their physical and mental health and thus, in caring adequately for their child [20].…”