Social support, resilience, and quality of life for families with children with intellectual disabilities

Elsayed E A Hassanein; Taha R Adawi; Evelyn S Johnson

doi:10.1016/j.ridd.2021.103910

Social support, resilience, and quality of life for families with children with intellectual disabilities

Res Dev Disabil. 2021 May:112:103910. doi: 10.1016/j.ridd.2021.103910. Epub 2021 Feb 20.

Authors

Elsayed E A Hassanein¹, Taha R Adawi¹, Evelyn S Johnson²

Affiliations

¹ Department of Psychological Sciences, Qatar University, Qatar.
² Department of Early and Special Education, Boise State University, United States. Electronic address: evelynjohnson@boisestate.edu.

PMID: 33621821
DOI: 10.1016/j.ridd.2021.103910

Abstract

A family's quality of life (FQOL) has been shown to impact the quality of life for the child with intellectual disabilities. Therefore, it is important to understand the factors that contribute to FQOL to inform the types of interventions and supports that are provided to families. The goal of this study was to determine whether social support and resilience account for variance in Family Quality of Life as reported by mothers of children with intellectual disabilities. Eight-eight Qatari mothers responded to three surveys, the Brief Resilience Scale, the 2-Way Social Support Scale, and the Beach Center Family Quality of Life Scale. Regression results indicate that giving and receiving social support accounted for significant variance in FQOL, explaining 62 % of the variance. Resilience was not a significant predictor. Implications for research and practice are discussed.

Keywords: Family quality of life; Intellectual disabilities; Resilience; Social support.

MeSH terms

Child
Family
Female
Humans
Intellectual Disability*
Mothers
Quality of Life*
Social Support
Surveys and Questionnaires