Abstract
Family quality of life is a complex phenomenon made ever more complicated when raising a child with a behavioral disorder. To provide effective interventions for children with behavioral disorders, practitioners should consider the entire family.
Primary Author and Speaker: Kathleen Eglseder
Additional Authors and Speakers: Barbara Demchick
Family Quality of Life (FQoL) describes how individuals perceive their quality of life within their family, and how the family unit exists and functions within its community. For families of children with behavioral disabilities, FQoL is not only impacted by the conventional aspects of family life including security, housing status, financial stability, and community involvement, but also the facets of life associated with having a child with a behavioral disability. The purpose of this phenomenology study was to understand the lived experience of families with a child aged 8-13 with a chronic behavior disorder and how parents describe their family quality of life and couple connectedness. Seven mothers of children with behavioral disabilities participated in semi structured interviews related to their lived experience of FQoL. Rigorous data analysis resulted in five themes: Impacts of the child’s behavior on family life, Couple connectedness with a child with behavioral difficulties, Meaningfulness of the ordinary, School influence on family life, and Needs for supports and services. Family quality of life is a complex phenomenon made ever more complicated when raising a child with a behavioral disorder. To provide effective interventions for children with behavioral disorders, practitioners should consider the entire issue, the family.
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