Bayat M
School of Education, DePaul University, Schmitt Academic Center, Chicago, IL 60614, USA.
J Intellect Disabil Res. 2007 Sep;51(Pt 9):702-14. doi: 10.1111/j.1365-2788.2007.00960.x.
Family resilience is a growing field of inquiry, investigating factors that contribute to a family's becoming stronger in spite of dealing with adversity. Despite the growing interest in studying family resilience, the topic has not been explored in families with children who have disabilities. This report, a part of a larger study--using both quantitative and qualitative methodologies--is an examination of factors of family resilience in the families of children with autism. Evidence of family resilience such as family connectedness and closeness, positive meaning-making of the disability, and spiritual and personal growth were identified and examined in this part of the study.
The study uses a survey methodology, analysing responses to several rating scales and written responses to three open-ended questions. Survey respondents consisted of 175 parents and other primary caregivers of a child with autism--ages between 2 and 18 years.
Results suggest identification of specific resilience processes, such as: making positive meaning of disability, mobilization of resources, and becoming united and closer as a family; finding greater appreciation of life in general, and other people in specific; and gaining spiritual strength.
This study presents evidence that a considerable number of families of children with autism display factors of resilience--reporting having become stronger as a result of disability in the family.
家庭复原力是一个不断发展的研究领域，它探究的是尽管面临逆境，家庭仍能变得更强大的促成因素。尽管对家庭复原力的研究兴趣日益浓厚，但该主题在有残疾儿童的家庭中尚未得到探讨。本报告是一项规模更大的研究（采用定量和定性方法）的一部分，旨在考察自闭症儿童家庭中的家庭复原力因素。在本研究的这一部分中，确定并考察了家庭复原力的证据，如家庭联系与亲密程度、对残疾的积极意义建构以及精神和个人成长。
该研究采用调查方法，分析对多个评定量表的回答以及对三个开放式问题的书面回答。调查对象包括175名自闭症儿童的父母及其他主要照料者，孩子年龄在2至18岁之间。
结果表明确定了特定的复原力过程，例如：对残疾赋予积极意义、资源调动以及家庭变得团结和亲密；总体上对生活有了更多感激之情，对特定的他人也有了更多感激；获得了精神力量。
本研究提供的证据表明，相当数量的自闭症儿童家庭展现出复原力因素——报告称因家庭中的残疾而变得更强大。
