Martin, Kitty (2019) Parents’ perspectives on caring for adult children with intellectual and developmental disabilities and assisting their transition to adulthood. Honours thesis, University of Southern Queensland. (Unpublished)
Abstract
Providing full-time care for adult children with an intellectual and/or developmental disability (IDD) has many challenging aspects for parents. The transition from school to adulthood is often confronting for youths with IDD, and obstacles can arise for their carers in this time due to factors relating to a perceived lack of adequate support services and ineffectual planning for the transition. Emotional difficulties are often exacerbated for youths when they are exposed to the unfamiliar world of adulthood, and the emotional wellbeing of their carers is often impacted throughout this time. The aim of this qualitative study was to explore the experience of parents within Australia caring for an adult child with IDD in relation to their emotional wellbeing, coping strategies, and appraisal of their caregiving role. Six parents were interviewed to evaluate their views of potential barriers throughout transition, adjustments to everyday life during this time, and their opinions of support services for adults with IDD within Australia. Face-to-face, semi-structured interviews were evaluated using reflexive Thematic Analysis. Six main themes were identified: (1) enduring adjustment, (2) future planning, (3) ongoing challenges, (4) support services, (5) transport and, (6) appraisal of caregiving. These findings reflect overall perspectives of parents regarding the benefits and challenges of providing care for an adult child with IDD, the complexities involved in facilitating their transition to adulthood, and both the competencies and limitations of assistance from support services in Australia for adults with IDD.
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| Item Type: | Thesis (Non-Research) (Honours) |
|---|---|
| Item Status: | Live Archive |
| Additional Information: | Current UniSQ staff and students can request access to this thesis. Please email research.repository@unisq.edu.au with a subject line of SEAR thesis request and provide: Name of the thesis requested and Your name and UniSQ email address |
| Faculty/School / Institute/Centre: | Historic - Faculty of Health, Engineering and Sciences - School of Psychology and Counselling (1 Jan 2015 - 31 Dec 2021) |
| Supervisors: | Bob Knight |
| Qualification: | Bachelor of Science (Honours) |
| Date Deposited: | 24 Sep 2025 01:41 |
| Last Modified: | 24 Sep 2025 01:41 |
| Uncontrolled Keywords: | intellectual and developmental disabilities; transition to adulthood; parent perspectives; thematic analysis |
| Fields of Research (2008): | 17 Psychology and Cognitive Sciences > 1799 Other Psychology and Cognitive Sciences > 179999 Psychology and Cognitive Sciences not elsewhere classified |
| Fields of Research (2020): | 52 PSYCHOLOGY > 5299 Other psychology > 529999 Other psychology not elsewhere classified |
| URI: | https://sear.unisq.edu.au/id/eprint/52538 |
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