Confirmatory Factor Analysis of a Family Quality of Life Scale for Taiwanese Families of Children With Intellectual Disability/Developmental Delay.

The Beach Center Family Quality of Life Scale is an internationally validated instrument for measuring family outcomes. To revise the scale for better alignment with the Family Quality of Life theory, the authors excluded non-outcome items in this revision. In this study, we examined reliability and validity of the revised scale (i.e., the FQoL Scale-21) and its scores for Taiwanese families of children and youth with intellectual disability and developmental delay (age 0-18). Results from 400 Taiwanese respondents suggested that the FQoL Scale-21 has the potential to be used as an indicator of positive outcomes in intervention evaluation, policy making, and service delivery.

Intellectual and developmental disabilities in Kinshasa, Democratic Republic of the Congo: causality and implications for resilience and support.

This article reports results of a 7-month qualitative study on intellectual and related developmental disabilities in Kinshasa, Democratic Republic of the Congo, particularly as they relate to the causes and meaning of intellectual and developmental disabilities (IDD). This study raises important questions related to the understanding of resilience of persons affected by IDD and the nature and purpose of support they use or desire.

Family quality of life following early identification of deafness.

PURPOSE: Family members' perceptions of their quality of life were examined following early identification of deafness in children. METHOD: A questionnaire was used to solicit ratings of satisfaction from the family members of 207 children who were deaf and younger than 6 years of age. RESULTS: Results indicated that families were generally satisfied with the areas of family life surveyed. Descriptive analysis suggested lower satisfaction ratings in the area of emotional well-being. Families also reported that their child's deafness had the largest impact on their emotional well-being. Family members of children using oral communication with a cochlear implant reported higher satisfaction with their child's speech production and perception outcomes than family members of children using hearing aids alone. IMPLICATIONS: We recommend that service providers and early hearing detection and intervention program coordinators consider additional supports for family well-being following the early identification of deafness in children.

Conceptualization and measurement of family outcomes associated with families of individuals with intellectual disabilities.

The purpose of this review is to (a) document the current status of conceptualizing and measuring family outcomes related to having a member with an intellectual disability and (b) determine the extent to which family research focuses on internal family characteristics as contrasted to external family support. The reviewers collected 28 articles using the terms well-being, adaptation, family functioning, or family quality of life in the title. Results of our analyses are presented as a comparison between well-being, adaptation, and family functioning articles in one group and family quality of life articles in a second group. Both groups lacked explicit conceptual definitions, theory, and random/representative samples. The articles placed an undue emphasis on maternal participation, and tended to report a single family member score as representative of the whole family. Two major differences between the groups was a tendency for family quality of life studies to be grounded in conceptual frameworks and focus on new instrument development. Recommendations for future research directions are included.

Federal family and disability policy: special relevance for developmental disabilities.

The article reviews the federal statutes and relevant decisions of the U.S. Supreme Court that constitute the core concepts of disability policy and their application to persons with disabilities (especially developmental disabilities) and their families.