A community survey of children with severe intellectual disability and their families: psychological adjustment, carer distress and the effect of respite care

A community survey of children with severe intellectual disability and their families: psychological adjustment, carer distress and the effect of respite care

Hoare P; Harris M; Jackson P; Kerley S

Journal Of Intellectual Disability Research

1998

Child; Female; Humans; Male; Questionnaires; Severity of Illness Index; Social Adjustment; Respite Care; Stress; Adaptation; Psychological; Caregivers/psychology; Family/psychology; Parent caregivers; Psychological/psychology; Community Mental Health Services; Mental Retardation/diagnosis

The present paper describes a cross-sectional study of the psychosocial adjustment of 143 children with severe disability and their families identified from a regional case register for children with special needs. Thirty-eight per cent of the children had significant psychiatric morbidity. By contrast, the overall level of distress in carers was not that different from probable community prevalence figures. Nevertheless, distress among carers was consistently associated with increased disability in the child. Although respite care is a valuable resource for many carers, its use is indicative of underlying distress in the carer.

1998

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