Suportul social și instituțional pentru familiile copiilor cu dizabilități. Influența asupra bunăstării aparținătorilor Social and Institutional Support for Families of Disabled Children. Influence on the Well-Being of Carers Section Studies

Abstract

Having a disabled child brings strong hardships for the families, with major implications in all spheres of family life. The emotional and financial burden on caregivers may be lightened by support from authorities, family and friends. In this paper we will focus on the effect of received support on the subjective wellbeing of the caregivers. Parents from 172 families living in Bihor County, Romania, have been interviewed, using a questionnaire that measures subjective well-being (life satisfaction), social support from friends, relatives, specialized services in the area, and perceived respect from the community. While income is positively related to life satisfaction, mothers reported lower subjective well-being than males, controlling for other demographics, which seems to show that they are more affected by their child disability. The amount of support received from friends in activities related to child and respect from the communities have a positive influence on subjective well-being of the caregiver, when controlling for socio-demographics and other types of support. On the other hand, emotional support from friends in negatively correlated with subjective well-being. We suppose this was a spurious correlation, this kind of support being regularly associated with dissolution of the family under the pressure of hardships generated by child disability.