Abstract
It is known that factors such as socio-demographic characteristics and care-related stressors among caregivers of children with developmental disabilities (CDD) predict their life satisfaction (LS). Due to a lack of data, however, very little is known about the predictors of LS in South Korea. This study aims to examine factors associated with LS among the caregivers of CDD using the recently collected data from the national survey on people with developmental disabilities in South Korea. Structural Equation Modeling (SEM) was performed including a total of 390 caregivers participated in the survey. Key findings are as follows. (1) Both child’s age and caregiver’s age were negatively associated with caregivers’ LS, whereas the severity of child’s disability and monthly family income were positively associated with the caregivers’ LS. (2) While caregiving stress and perceived financial burden were negatively associated with LS, amount of time for caring was not significantly associated with LS. Based on the findings, discussion and implications for theory and practice are provided.
Highlights
1.1 Current trends in South KoreaIn South Korea, the registered individuals with disabilities were more than 2.5 million as of the end of December 2012, occupying 4.9% of the whole population of South Korea
It is known that factors such as socio-demographic characteristics and care-related stressors among caregivers of children with developmental disabilities (CDD) predict their life satisfaction (LS)
This study aims to examine factors associated with LS among the caregivers of CDD using the recently collected data from the national survey on people with developmental disabilities in South Korea
Summary
In South Korea, the registered individuals with disabilities were more than 2.5 million as of the end of December 2012, occupying 4.9% of the whole population of South Korea. It is known that the CDD are vulnerable in functioning; they require continuous care from their primary caregivers Regarding their independence in daily activities, 89.9% of CDD required some or most help from others, mostly from their parents. As for IADLs, the results showed that over 90% of children with ID needed assistance in shopping, preparing food, doing house chores and laundry, and managing money; all children with autism needed assistance in all activities such as purchasing, preparing a meal, doing house chores and laundry, taking medicine, and managing money Under these circumstances, the caregivers are mainly parents who are taking care of their children in every activity in daily life. As parents are the most influential factor affecting children’s healthy growth, identifying their care-associated situations and various predictors which influence their level of LS will be an important issue
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