Family functioning in families of children with developmental disabilities Not Applicable
Conditions
Interventions
Families will be randomly allocated on a 1:1 basis (with each family as a cluster) to take part in Positive Family Connections or to a waitlist group who will be invited to take part in Positive Famil
2) Managing family life
3) Communication
4) Noticing
5) Activities
6) Bringing it all
Sponsors
University of Warwick
Eligibility
Sex/Gender
All
Inclusion criteria
Inclusion criteria: 1. Family carer of a child with a developmental disability. Child must be aged 8-13 years and have a developmental disability as defined by family carers reporting that the child has received a diagnosis, and/or is in receipt of developmental disability services. 2. One family carer from each family must be the primary parental carer- the person that the child with a developmental disability lives with most of the time, typically a biological parent, step-parent, adoptive, or foster parent. However, for second family carers, “family” will be subjectively defined by whether somebody considers themselves to be a family member of a child with a developmental disability. This means that participants may include immediate family members (e.g., parents, adult siblings, foster, adoptive, or step-family members), extended family members (e.g., grandparents, aunties, uncles) and other figures (e.g., neighbours, support workers, close friends). 3. Family carers must be aged =18 years 4. Family carers must be willing and able to participate in intervention sessions remotely over Zoom 5. The child with a developmental disability has an adaptive behaviour composite of <80 on the Vineland Adaptive Behaviour scales, third edition, domain-level interview
Exclusion criteria
Exclusion criteria: 1. The primary parental carer is currently completing a parenting programme or receiving another individual or group therapy for stress, or mental health problems 2. The family is in acute crisis and in need of immediate support from other mental health or family services 3. There are safeguarding or child protection concerns relating to any of the family members 4. A primary carer in the family does not provide informed consent to take part in the study 5. The primary carer is not able to take part in the intervention and/or complete measures in English 6. The research team has significant concerns about the primary carer’s readiness to take part in the intervention. For example, during the eligibility assessment they describe having had significant previous difficulties in group programmes, or do not appear able to engage with the positive orientation or family focus of Positive Family Connections
Design outcomes
Primary
| Measure | Time frame |
|---|---|
| Family functioning measured using family carer report on the Family APGAR scale at baseline and 4- and 9-month follow-up post-randomisation | — |
Secondary
| Measure | Time frame |
|---|---|
| All outcome measures are collected at baseline and 4- and 9-month follow-up post-randomisation: 1. Family carer wellbeing as measured using the Warwick Edinburgh Mental WellBeing Scale (WEMWBS) 2. Sibling relationships as reported by family carers using the Sibling Relationship Questionnaire 3. Family-carer relationship with the child with a developmental disability and their sibling using the Child-Parent Relationship Scale 4. Satisfaction with the couple relationship using a single-item rating of satisfaction with the relationship (Hansen, 2012) 5. Disagreement over issues related to parenting/care of the child (Hansen, 2012) 6. Support from and conflict with grandparents (Hastings et al., 2002) 7. Family carer psychological distress as measured using the K6 (Kessler et al., 2002) 8. Family carers’ reports of the behavioural and emotional well-being of the child with a developmental disability and a sibling using the Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire 9. Family carer’s perceptions of the positive impact of ther child with a developmental disability using the Positive Gains Scale | — |
Countries
England, Northern Ireland, Scotland, United Kingdom, Wales
Contacts
Public ContactDaniel Sutherland
Outcome results
None listed