Author : Anne Marie Ritzema
Publisher :
ISBN 13 :
Total Pages : pages
Book Rating : 4.:/5 (948 download)
Book Synopsis Predictors of Parent Perceptions of Well-being for Children with Neurodevelopmental Disorders by : Anne Marie Ritzema
Download or read book Predictors of Parent Perceptions of Well-being for Children with Neurodevelopmental Disorders written by Anne Marie Ritzema and published by . This book was released on 2015 with total page pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: "Little is known about the factors affecting the well-being of children with neurodevelopmental disorders (NDD). Both child function and supports and services have been found to impact the well-being of parents of children with NDD. The current study had two prime objectives. The first was to examine whether child function and supports and services were also predictive of well-being for children with NDD. The second was to contribute to the research methodology of a larger study through the direct assessment of a subsample of children with NDD. First, the current project assessed whether child function as well as the adequacy of supports and services provided to children and their families were predictive of child well-being. Well-being was assessed using a measure of quality of life developed for use with children with NDD. Data from 234 parents were included in a structural equation model (SEM) analysis, and each predictor was found to load significantly on the overall outcome variable of well-being. Parent concerns about child function were significantly related to child well-being; parents who reported more concerns about their children's functioning reported lower levels of child well-being. Unmet needs for supports and services were also significantly related to child well-being; parents who reported that more of their children's and family's service needs were unmet reported lower child well-being. An indirect relationship was also found between child function and child well-being. When parents reported that their support needs were adequately met, their children's functional difficulties had a lower impact on parent perceptions of their children's overall well-being.Second, this study contributed to the research design of the larger study through the direct assessment of a subsample of children. About My Child, 26-item version (AMC-26) was developed as a measure of child health complexity and was used in the current study as measure of the number of concerns parents had about their children's functioning. The reliability and validity of AMC-26 was investigated with a sample of 262 parents of children with NDD. A five-factor model explained 45.96% of the variance. Construct validity was tested through associations with relevant subdomains of an existing measure of parent-reported child difficulties and also with the subsample of children (n = 49) using standardized measures of cognitive and adaptive functioning. Many predicted relationships were observed, providing support for the reliability and validity of AMC-26 as a parent-report measure of child function. It was further hypothesized that parents' perceptions of their children's functioning would mediate the relationship between children's functioning as assessed by standardized measures of cognitive and adaptive functioning and parent perceptions of their children's well-being. Overall, the results supported this hypothesis. Taken together, the results of the current study enrich our understanding of well-being for children with NDD. Discussion focuses on the service implications for children with NDD and their families." --