Openness and avoidance – a longitudinal study of fathers of children with intellectual disability

Abstract

Fathers' individual paths need to be taken into consideration when offering psychological support to families of children with ID/DD.

The Views and Experiences of Fathers of Children with Intellectual Disabilities: A Systematic Review of the International Evidence

“…Findings across studies also identified other factors that impacted on fathers' emotional well‐being such as the risk of death of the child at birth due to serious health complications associated with a diagnosis of Down Syndrome (Takataya et al, ) and the timing of the diagnosis of the child's disability which when delayed compounded feelings of blame and guilt (Boström & Broberg, ; Marsh et al, ).…”

“…Fathers highlighted their changing hopes for the future and the need to access supports from a range of professionals for this to be a reality (Boström & Broberg, ; Huang et al, ; Takataya et al, ).…”

“…A number of data collection methods were used in the studies including surveys, questionnaires, and interviews. A total of five studies were qualitative (Boström & Broberg, ; Carpenter & Towers, ; Huang et al, ; ; Marsh et al, ) and nine studies were quantitative (Al‐Yagon, ; ; Cohen et al, ; Dąbrowska, ; Giallo et al, ; Huang et al, ; MacDonald et al, ; MacDonald & Hastings, ; Takataya et al, ).…”

Fathers of people with intellectual disability: A review of the literature

“…These themes are present again in the Swedish qualitative longitudinal study by Bostrom and Broberg (2014) and emerge further in studies by Rivard and Mastel-Smith (2014) from their interviews with six fathers of children who were diagnosed with a genetic disorder, and small-scale studies by West (1998) and Herbert and Carpenter (1994), both of who interviewed small numbers of fathers of children with DS. Despite common reports of distress, shock and upset at diagnosis, many articles refer to paternal adjustment and adaptation over time (Baumann and Braddick, 1999;Bostrom and Broberg, 2014;Hornby, 1992;Rivard and Mastel-Smith, 2013). Vadasay et al (1986) in their follow-up evaluation of a programme offered to fathers of children with a disability in the United States note a significant decrease in depression and reduced levels of grief and stress over time.…”

‘Shutting the World Out’: An Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis Exploring the Paternal Experience of Parenting a Young Adult with a Developmental Disability

“…Finally, Bostrӧm and Broberg's longitudinal study represented the only identified qualitative research focusing solely on fathers (). Exploring the experiences of fathers of children with intellectual disability (age 6 months to 10 years), they suggested that, in terms of actual involvement in delivering childcare, mothers and fathers are becoming increasingly equal.…”