Martínez-Rico Gabriel, García-Grau Pau, Cañadas-Pérez Margarita, González-García Rómulo J
Campus Capacitas, Catholic University of Valencia "San Vicente Mártir", Valencia, Spain.
PLoS One. 2025 May 12;20(5):e0321997. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0321997. eCollection 2025.
Enhancing caregivers' confidence and competence in early childhood intervention is a priority, focusing on collaboration between professionals and families to improve family well-being and quality of life. Caregiver burden is crucial in early childhood intervention support services aimed at promoting family well-being and functioning. However, contextual factors and child-related variables may affect caregiver burden. We examined the relationships between family confidence, caregiver burden, and child functioning.
A total of 169 Spanish families receiving early intervention services participated in a cross-sectional survey study. Data were analyzed applying single and multiple mediation analyses to examine the influence of socio-demographic variables on family confidence and caregiver burden, as well as the mediating role of family confidence between child functioning and caregiver burden.
The study found that child functioning does not directly impact caregiver burden but significantly influences it through family confidence. Confidence in helping the child was a relevant mediator of the impact of child functioning on caregiver burden. However, confidence in helping the family was a mediator across all dimensions of caregiver burden.
Higher family confidence predicts lower caregiver burden in early childhood intervention. Confidence in helping family functioning is key to mitigating the negative impact of child functioning on caregiver burden. Practical implications of these findings suggest that early childhood intervention services should focus on capacity-building through collaborative and family-centered practices, empowering families to enhance their confidence, and reduce caregiver burden.
增强照顾者在幼儿期干预方面的信心和能力是一项优先任务，重点在于专业人员与家庭之间的合作，以改善家庭福祉和生活质量。照顾者负担在旨在促进家庭福祉和功能的幼儿期干预支持服务中至关重要。然而，背景因素和与儿童相关的变量可能会影响照顾者负担。我们研究了家庭信心、照顾者负担和儿童功能之间的关系。
共有169个接受早期干预服务的西班牙家庭参与了一项横断面调查研究。运用单因素和多因素中介分析对数据进行分析，以检验社会人口学变量对家庭信心和照顾者负担的影响，以及家庭信心在儿童功能和照顾者负担之间的中介作用。
研究发现，儿童功能并不直接影响照顾者负担，但通过家庭信心对其有显著影响。帮助儿童的信心是儿童功能对照顾者负担影响的一个相关中介因素。然而，帮助家庭的信心是照顾者负担所有维度的一个中介因素。
在幼儿期干预中，较高的家庭信心预示着较低的照顾者负担。帮助家庭功能的信心是减轻儿童功能对照顾者负担负面影响的关键。这些研究结果的实际意义表明，幼儿期干预服务应通过协作和以家庭为中心的实践来专注于能力建设，增强家庭信心，减轻照顾者负担。
