ABSTRACT
Eight dyads ( N = 16) residing in Western Canada participated in this investigation of how young adults with intellectual and developmental disabilities (IDD) and their parents jointly construct, articulate, and act on goals pertinent to the young adults' transition to adulthood. Using the action-project method to collect and analyze conversations and video recall data, cases were grouped representing the ways goal-directed projects brought relationship ( n = 4), planning ( n = 3) or both ( n = 1) to the foreground as joint projects. Resources internal to the dyad such as emotional resources, and external to the dyad, facilitated formulation and pursuit of projects. Lack of external supports and limited parental knowledge about IDD hindered joint project formulation.
Subject(s)
Developmental Disabilities/psychology , Goals , Intellectual Disability/psychology , Social Support , Adolescent , Adult , Female , Humans , Male , Parent-Child Relations , Parents/psychology , Transition to Adult Care , Young AdultABSTRACT
INTRODUCTION: Parents have found the transition to adulthood for their sons or daughters with intellectual and/or developmental disabilities (IDD) particularly challenging. The literature has not examined how parents work together and with others in face of this transition nor has it highlighted parental goals in this process. This study used a perspective based on joint, goal-direct action to describe the projects that Canadian parents engaged in together and with others relative to this transition. METHODS: Using the qualitative action-project method, joint projects between parents and with others were identified from their conversations and followed for 6 months. FINDINGS: Three groups of projects were described: equipping the young adult for adult life, connecting for personal support and managing day-to-day while planning for the future. CONCLUSIONS: Parents act together and with others relative to the transition to adulthood of their young adult children with IDD. These projects are complex and differ in goals, steps, resources and emotional regulation and motivation.
Subject(s)
Developmental Disabilities/nursing , Intellectual Disability/nursing , Parents/psychology , Self-Help Groups , Social Support , Adolescent , Adult , Canada , Female , Follow-Up Studies , Humans , Male , Qualitative Research , Self-Help Groups/organization & administration , Young AdultABSTRACT
Systematic case study designs are emerging as alternative paradigm strategies for psychotherapy and social science research. Through enhanced sensitivity to context, these designs examine idiographic profiles of causal processes. We specifically advocate the use of the hermeneutic single-case efficacy design (HSCED). HSCED has recently been used to investigate the efficacy of an existing therapy with a new population (Observed and Experiential Integration for athlete performance barriers) and an emerging therapy (Lifespan Integration Therapy). We describe innovations in HSCED that were implemented for these studies. These developments include (a) integrating psychotherapists as case developers, (b) incorporating multiple cases in one investigation, and (c) tailoring the repertoire of assessment tools. These extensions strategically incorporated principles of contextual paradigms in HSCED, thus complementing single-case designs that neglect idiographic contexts. We discuss recommendations for using HSCED in practice-based research, highlighting its potential as a bridge to address the research-practice gap.
