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Managing Challenging Behaviors at Home without Services: the Perspective of Parents Having Young Children with Intellectual and Developmental Disability

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Abstract

Families of young children with intellectual and developmental disabilities (IDD) experience challenges that may be exacerbated by challenging behavior (CB) and a lack of specialized support services. While waiting for services, families must implement strategies on their own, while taking arduous steps to access supports to eventually meet their needs. Through an online survey, 60 families reported on their experiences managing CBs in the absence of specialized services, including strategies adopted, challenges encountered in implementing interventions, perceptions regarding their efficacy, steps taken to access services, and needs in terms of specialized services and external supports. More than half reported feeling inadequate to the task. These families identified needs in relation to both technical and psychological support. We suggest options that could be offered to families waiting for services to strengthen the sense of parental competence, help to better manage CBs with parent-mediated interventions, and support families’ psychological well-being.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Psychology, Université du Québec à Montréal, P.O. Box 8888, Centre-Ville Station, Montreal, Québec, Canada

    Justine Grenier-Martin & Mélina Rivard

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  1. Justine Grenier-Martin
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All authors agreed with the content of the work and have made substantial contributions to the conception and creation of the work. All have agreed to the version to be published.

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Mélina Rivard.

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This paper was written in partial fulfillment of the requirements of the Ph.D. degree in Psychology at the Université du Québec à Montréal by the first author. This study was supported in part by scholarships awarded to the first author by the Consortium national de recherche en intégration sociale (CNRIS) and the Fonds de recherche du Québec – Société et culture.

Appendix

Appendix

Questions asked to the parents for the challenging behaviors section of the survey.

  1. 1.

    Challenging behaviors

  • Table listing challenging behaviors exhibited by the child and asking the frequency of the behaviors

  • Are there other behaviors that your child exhibits that are problematic and that have not been mentioned in the table above?

    • If so, which one(s)?

  1. 2.

    Seeking help

  • Have you sought help for behavioral or emotional problems in your child?

  • With whom?

  • Did you receive this help?

  • What form of assistance did you receive?

    • Please explain

  • Has this helped your situation?

    • Please explain

  • Are you satisfied with the help you received?

    • Please explain

  1. 3.

    Behavior management

  • When your child engages in problematic behavior, what do you typically do?

    • Please explain

  1. 4.

    Challenges

  • What are the main challenges you encounter in these interventions?

    • Please explain

  1. 5.

    Perception of mastery

  • Do you feel that you were doing the right thing with your child at that time?

    • Please explain

  1. 6.

    Intervention tools

  • Table listing different services and asking, “To what extent could the following services help you, in your specific situation?”

  • Referring to the services set out in the table above, please indicate the two services you would like to benefit from?

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Grenier-Martin, J., Rivard, M. Managing Challenging Behaviors at Home without Services: the Perspective of Parents Having Young Children with Intellectual and Developmental Disability. J Dev Phys Disabil 34, 373–397 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10882-021-09804-x

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