Listening to mothers: experiences of mental health support and insights into adapting therapy for people with severe or profound intellectual disabilities

Individuals with severe or profound intellectual disabilities may be at a greater risk of developing mental health problems. Despite this, evidence suggests individuals can face difficulties in getting mental health support, and little is known about effective psychological therapies for this population. Hence, this study explored mothers’ experiences of seeking mental health support for their offspring. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with six mothers of adults with severe or profound intellectual disabilities, who had sought mental health support for their offspring. Interviews were audio-recorded and analysed using Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis. The three main themes were ‘A struggle to understand, Challenges to getting mental health support, and A mother’s approach to adapting therapy.’ Mothers found it difficult to recognise signs of emotional difficulties in their offspring. However, they thought that their offspring faced discrimination when accessing services, and that professionals often lacked the knowledge and skills to work with people with severe impairments. The mothers also stressed the importance of the therapeutic relationship and the need to involve carers in therapy. This study highlights the need for more appropriate mental health support for individuals with severe and profound intellectual disabilities. The findings also suggest further research is needed about adapting psychological therapies for this population

Looking Back in Anger? Retirement and Unemployment Scarring

Previous studies find that past unemployment reduces life satisfaction even after reemployment for non-monetary reasons (unemployment scarring). It is not clear, however, whether this scarring is only caused by employment-related factors, such as worsened working conditions, or increased future uncertainty as regards income and employment. Using German panel data, we identify non-employment-related scarring by examining the transition of unemployed people to retirement as a life event after which employment-related scarring does not matter anymore. We find evidence for non-employment-related non-monetary unemployment scarring for people who were unemployed for the first time in their life directly prior to retirement, but not for people with earlier unemployment experiences

Job Characteristics and Labour Supply

We document the importance of non-pecuniary aspects in employment relationships by showing that labour supply elasticities differ significantly among individuals' job characteristics. Factor analysis indicates the relevance of four characteristics: autonomy, workload, variety and job security. Using a discrete choice model of family labour supply on the basis of Australian data, we show that income elasticities are significantly higher among individuals with 'good' characteristics (e.g. a securer job) whereas wage elasticities are significantly lower. This result holds for both men and women. Our main hypothesis are derived within the 'new approach to consumer theory proposed by Lancaster.Wir untersuchen den Einfluss von (nicht-monetären) Arbeitsbedingungen auf individuelle Arbeitsangebotsentscheidungen mittels eines diskreten Entscheidungsmodells. Um Arbeitsbedingungen zunächst zu konzeptionalisieren, greifen wir auf den sog. 'Characteristics Approach' zurück. Die Wirkung von verschiedenen Charakteristika eines Jobs wie z.B. der Grad an Autonomie oder die Arbeitsauslastung auf das individuelle Arbeitsangebot lassen sich dadurch sowohl theoretisch als auch empirisch in einem konsistenten Analyserahmen untersuchen. Zum einen zeigen wir, dass man theoretisch einen positiven Zusammenhang zwischen einer Verbesserung der Arbeitseigenschaften und der tatsächlich gearbeiteten Arbeitsstundenzahl erwarten würde. Zum anderen weisen unsere Befunde darauf hin, dass sich dieser theoretische Zusammenhang, auch in Form von signifikant unterschiedlichen Arbeitsangebotselastizitäten zwischen solchen Individuen mit guten Arbeitseigenschaften und jenen mit weniger vorteilhaften, niederschlägt

Current concepts of positive mental health;

Bibliography: p. 121-126.Mode of access: Internet

Research Methods in Social Relations

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