Measuring emotional support in family networks: Adapting the Family Network Method for individuals with a mild intellectual disability.

Informal supportive networks of individuals with intellectual disability have become increasingly important. The aim of this paper is to describe how the Family Network Method - Intellectual Disability (FNM-ID) offers a way to gather the perspective of people with mild intellectual disability on their family support. The FNM is designed to explore how individuals define their family contexts, and more specifically how they perceive existing supportive relationships in these contexts. By carefully piloting ways of questioning people with mild intellectual disability, systematic adaptations were made to the original FNM. Data obtained by the FNM-ID can be analysed using social network analysis. Thereby, the FNM-ID provides rich, theoretically significant information on emotional support in the family networks of individuals with mild intellectual disability. The FNM-ID is a useful and successfully adapted tool for other researchers and professionals to systematically explore the family support experiences of individuals with mild intellectual disability

Family networks of people with mild intellectual disasbility with and without challenging behaviour

Differences in perceived emotional support in family networks of people with mild intellectual disability with and without challenging behaviour were explored by using a self-report measure. One hundred and thirty-eight participants (78 men and 60 women, average age 28.2 years old) with mild intellectual disability were interviewed using the Family Network Method - Intellectual Disability to assess their emotionally supportive family relationships. The instrument maps the perceived emotional support among all the family members in the family networks of people with mild intellectual disability, with and without challenging behaviour. The results suggest that challenging behaviour may not be strongly associated with the family network characteristics and emotional support in family networks of people with mild intellectual disability. A few, and generally small, differences were found between the family networks of people with or without challenging behaviour. However, one moderate sized group difference was found: those with challenging behaviour reported less mutual support in their whole family network

Brief report: Family networks of people with mild intellectual disability with and without challenging behaviour

Differences in perceived emotional support in family networks of people with mild intellectual disability with and without challenging behaviour were explored by using a self-report measure. One hundred and thirty-eight participants (78 men and 60 women, average age 28.2 years old) with mild intellectual disability were interviewed using the Family Network Method – Intellectual Disability to assess their emotionally supportive family relationships. The instrument maps the perceived emotional support among all the family members in the family networks of people with mild intellectual disability, with and without challenging behaviour. The results suggest that challenging behaviour may not be strongly associated with the family network characteristics and emotional support in family networks of people with mild intellectual disability. A few, and generally small, differences were found between the family networks of people with or without challenging behaviour. However, one moderate sized group difference was found: those with challenging behaviour reported less mutual support in their whole family network

Family networks of people with mild intellectual disasbility with and without challenging behaviour

Differences in perceived emotional support in family networks of people with mild intellectual disability with and without challenging behaviour were explored by using a self-report measure. One hundred and thirty-eight participants (78 men and 60 women, average age 28.2 years old) with mild intellectual disability were interviewed using the Family Network Method - Intellectual Disability to assess their emotionally supportive family relationships. The instrument maps the perceived emotional support among all the family members in the family networks of people with mild intellectual disability, with and without challenging behaviour. The results suggest that challenging behaviour may not be strongly associated with the family network characteristics and emotional support in family networks of people with mild intellectual disability. A few, and generally small, differences were found between the family networks of people with or without challenging behaviour. However, one moderate sized group difference was found: those with challenging behaviour reported less mutual support in their whole family network

Family involvement in person-centered approaches for people with intellectual disabilities and challenging behaviors: A scoping review

Introduction: Families have a significant role in the lives of people with intellectual disabilities and challenging behaviors. However, it is not clear how actively families are involved when people with intellectual disabilities and challenging behaviors are living in out-of-home care. This scoping review explored the frequency and type of family involvement in the application of a person-centered approach in the care for people with intellectual disabilities and challenging behaviors. Methods: Authors conducted electronic searches through six databases: Embase, Medline, Web of Science, PsycINFO, Cochrane Central, and Google Scholar (2005 to 2019) and evaluated relevant publications. Results: Based on the 15 articles identified, only five articles report on family involvement. In addition, frequency of contact, and how family is involved appears to differ between different person-centered approaches. Conclusion: More active family involvement in person-centered approaches for people with intellectual disabilities and challenging behaviors is recommended