Background: The existing research on factors which influence carers’ responses to challenging behaviour has focussed on paid staff and has largely ignored the experiences of family carers. The aim of this study was to explore family carers’ interpersonal perceptions and responses to their relatives’ challenging behaviour. Method: Eight familial carers of adults with intellectual disabilities who engaged in frequent aggressive challenging behaviour were recruited. A semi-structured, interview was used to explore participants’ interpersonal perceptions and responses at the time of a recent incident of challenging behaviour. This was supplemented with a modified version of the Attributional Style Questionnaire and other rating scales. Results: Participants’ ratings on the quantitative measures did not match the responses they described experiencing during the interview. Findings from the interview suggest that the majority of participants experienced a range of emotions in response to incidents of challenging behaviour. A minority struggled to recall any emotional responses. Conflicting interpersonal appraisals were made by all participants and appear to have influenced both their emotional and behavioural responses to their relative’s behaviour. Conclusions: It appears that family caregivers’ responses to their relatives’ challenging behaviour were complex and, at times, contradictory. Their immediate emotional and behavioural responses during incidents of CB may have been influenced by their interpersonal perceptions made at the time of the incident and their underlying compassion for their relative. Implications for services and future research directions are discussed.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:bl.uk/oai:ethos.bl.uk:573831 |
| Date | January 2013 |
| Creators | McMillan, Amy Jenefer |
| Publisher | University of Glasgow |
| Source Sets | Ethos UK |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Electronic Thesis or Dissertation |
| Source | http://theses.gla.ac.uk/4155/ |
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