Enrichment and Stress in Families Caring for a Child with a Serious Emotional Disorder

We examined enrichment and stress in 214 families who had children with severe emotional disorders. Caregivers' ratings of enrichment and stress were obtained through a newly developed instrument, the Effects of the Situation Questionnaire, which used parallel items covering 17 life areas. Whil...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Journal of child and family studies 1998-06, Vol.7 (2), p.129-145
Main Authors: Yatchmenoff, Diane K, Koren, Paul E, Friesen, Barbara J, Gordon, Lynwood J, Kinney, Ronald F
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Attention Deficit Disorder
Care
Caregiver Burden
Caregivers
Caring
Child care
Child Rearing
Children
Children & youth
Developmental Disabilities
Electronic Mail
Emotional Disturbances
Emotionally Disturbed
Emotionally disturbed children
Emotions
Empowerment
Families
Families & family life
Family
Family Characteristics
Family Involvement
Family Life
Family Relations
Family Relationship
Human Services
Learning Disabilities
Mental disorders
Mental Health
Mental stress
Oregon
Parents
Physical Disabilities
Psychological Stress
Resource Materials
Self Concept
Selfenhancement
Special Needs Students
State Schools
State Universities
Stress
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Summary:We examined enrichment and stress in 214 families who had children with severe emotional disorders. Caregivers' ratings of enrichment and stress were obtained through a newly developed instrument, the Effects of the Situation Questionnaire, which used parallel items covering 17 life areas. While ratings of stress were generally higher than enrichment, caregivers reported some enrichment in areas encompassing self concept and family relationships, Bivariate and multivariate analyses using various child, family, and service-system variables revealed that stress was notably associated with severity of the child's disorder, low empowerment, and a lack of coordination among service providers. Enrichment was unrelated to severity but associated with high empowerment and spiritual support. Our findings suggest that families' experiences of caregiving can have both positive and negative aspects and that a comprehensive approach to serving and studying families should take both into account.
ISSN:1062-1024
1573-2843
DOI:10.1023/A:1022935014502