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Exploring the nature and correlates of caregiving among parents of adults with intellectual and developmental disabilities
Author(s) -
Burke Meghan M.,
Rios Kristina,
AlemanTovar Janeth,
Lee Chung eun,
Arnold Catherine K.,
Owen Aleksa
Publication year - 2020
Publication title -
journal of applied research in intellectual disabilities
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.056
H-Index - 63
eISSN - 1468-3148
pISSN - 1360-2322
DOI - 10.1111/jar.12745
Subject(s) - intellectual disability , psychology , developmental psychology , offspring , intellectual ability , clinical psychology , gerontology , cognition , medicine , psychiatry , pregnancy , genetics , biology
Background As adults with intellectual and developmental disabilities (IDD) have longer lives, parents may remain caregivers into old age. In addition, it is unknown who will fulfil caregiving roles after parents are no longer able to be caregivers. In the current study, we explored the nature (e.g. number of hours of caregiving) and correlates of parental caregiving for their adult offspring with intellectual and developmental disabilities and their future caregiving plans. Method In the United States, data were collected from 334 parents of adults with intellectual and developmental disabilities via a national survey. Results Altogether, 55% of the sample spent more than 15 hr conducting caregiving per week. Individual characteristics (e.g. maladaptive behaviour and functional abilities) and parent characteristics (e.g. physical proximity of the adult with intellectual and developmental disabilities and caregiving ability) positively correlated with caregiving hours. Notably, 38.58% of participants were unsure who would fulfil caregiving roles. Conclusion Implications for research about caregiving and practice are discussed.